An Affair

It was going to be a short flight

One hour and a half

It’s already been an hour

The light from the individual screens stuck in the back of each seat glow

A hundred televisions on the same channel correspond to color the whole cabin in

       flashes of swaddling ambers and warm indigos

 

But not ours

Ours are turned off

 

I’m not immediately attracted to her, though I’m sure she was attractive

I didn’t really see her face

It was just something in the way she sat next to me

Perhaps it was the contrast to the woman on my left

Who messily ate her large pizza in the small space that overlapped with my seat

 

I’m starting to lose myself in a good book

When the light from her screen splashes onto the pages

Interrupting my read with “Man vs Child: Chef Showdown”

Interesting choice for the last half hour of your flight

 

She has a flip phone
That’s kind of strangely wonderful I think

 

She begins to nod off

Her upper arm is touching mine

With each passing minute they push closer into each other

Until I am just about supporting the weight of her upper body

Her head is leaning forward,, and could topple to either side

It starts to fall towards me; slowly

 

Then the plane starts to descend noticeably, and I realize I can see the city from-

Her head jolts up

       -outside my window-

But her arm doesn’t move

       -and it’s beautiful

That’s not what you would do is it?

…                                

 

You would move your arm right?

She was perfectly awake but her arm remained there

I know that at least I could feel the pressure quite easily

The stewardess comes to retrieve the seatbelt extension for the man on the other side of the isle

And it’s all over

She straightens her back and I can’t feel her anymore

And I don’t even get a look at her face again before she leaves.

Author's Note

Not sure how I feel about the third to last stanza, what are your thoughts? Does it make sense to you in some way? Any comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading.