on either side of the screen:

i felt, no--experienced, the webcam's function today.
yes i've used it countless times,
but it was only today,
that i understood it's powers.

because when ed's face appeared on that small,
too small of screen,
he was suddenly there, in front of me.
as if physically, i could reach him.
i could hear him, i could see him.
but he's not here.
contradicting and puzzling in complex ways

but i guess it was even stranger for him:
i couldn't speak to him because my roommate was still sleeping.
all he could hear was the tapping on the keyboard.
and yet my image is there, changing with my emotions.
(mostly smiles, couldn't help but smile; wide ones too)

that short conversation had surprisingly deep impact on me.
i never really acknowledged the distance and time between us.
but i felt it's force: a gust of wind rushing past me.
and ha! we are aging, we saw it in each other

music: "Natural Woman" --Aretha Franklin