En Route

En route from Singapore to Seattle, via Tokyo. Air travel lets us experience the elapse of time without locomotion. We remain in our seats while space changes around us. A portal opens, one place is left behind, and another waits without yet becoming real. There is always uncertainty in that interval. Flying is the suspicion of space and time. We are trapped in a tiny bubble above the sea. A metal shell protects us from lack of oxygen, extreme low temperature, and deadly radiation. Inside, it is orderly. Almost socialist. We follow the same rules, watch the same television, read the same magazines. It is also a market. One can pay for a better seat, better food, perhaps even permission to cut the line to board. Everyone on board is either going somewhere or returning from somewhere, though destination and departure are only relative. Some passengers are waiting to experience something new, to meet someone they have missed, to present their work, to become someone, or to see someone.…