The Far Field

by Madhuri Vijay

We kept pace with the present, discarding as we went.

And, because I’m trying to evade nothing here, I don’t think I ever loved him more than I did at that at that moment, when I pitied him most.

And I, who had never in my life been required to consider the contours of poverty, understood quickly that theirs was not industriousness for its own sake.

What surprised me was how natural it felt to stand there with him, the silence between us as easy as breathing, as though we had known each other for years.

I fell quiet, and in the silence, I could feel the ease again, building between us, taking a shape that was exactly the shape of the air that separated us, an ease that nonetheless had at its core something primal and alive. I wanted to stand here, not talking, letting that something swim through my body. And, more, I was sure, as sure as I’d ever been of anything, that he felt it too.