Journey
Could it be that the woman sitting next
to you is a terrorist? She doesn't seem
to know where she lives, immediately names
a different district after discovering
you are familiar with that city, in fact
once lived there too.
Perhaps, though, she is merely embarking on an affair,
since she repeatedly says how much she loves her
husband, wishes he were here, and mumbles something
about meeting a woman friend in another country.
The lady doth protest too much, you think while sipping
your champagne-and the woman, who refused all alcoholic
beverages, drinks some herbal tincture she has pulled
from her purse, and shudders. Is the concoction something
to give her the courage to annihilate the plane-or
to enable her to anticipate, without guilt, the rendezvous
with her lover?
It would be a shame if the plane is to be blown up
and you were to lose your life, for although not
young, you are not old either, and as tedious as
your life can be sometimes, you have no desire for
it to end within the next few hours.
If you keep on in this way you will seriously begin
thinking the end is imminent, begin to analyze whether
you have done enough, have done the right things.
What you have not done will come crashing down on
you, and just now, on an all-night flight sitting
next to a woman of dubious identity and intention
this does not seem a good idea. You have another
glass of champagne, let your mind curl around random
thoughts, which eventually abstract enough to resemble
white noise, and after a long while are able to doze
and lightly dream.