Aafra

Aafra calls from Hong Kong
She sounds upbeat
But in the following two hours of our video call
I know she is gloomy as the downcast sky
It is afternoon
But the weather masquerades as late evening
You can’t trust anything these days can you?
She asks
I wish I could lie
I wish I was naive enough to shoo away her fears
Instead I rile up some anger in her
It works
Or at least she plays along
We glide through our shared past
Brief yet momentous glories
What we were once
We take comfort in each others insignificance
Lending shoulders from million miles away
The video keeps breaking
Lousy broadband
Aafra cooes at my dog
I wonder at her first world apartment
Half of our lives are gone
We are still waiting to live