Twice the Speed of Sound by Laura Foley

Twice the Speed of Sound

She waves to me
from the coach window,
shadowed glass reflecting
summer trees,
her face dappled
by a scree of boughs and leaves
I can’t see through—
maples not yet reddening into fall—
as she rides one plane
after another over no rough seas,
into no threatened war,
no lack of easy communication;
still, the space expands
like the universe:
galaxies begetting galaxies,
worlds yet unnamed—
despite phone calls bouncing
from one far-flung tower
to another, while our wide world
keeps rolling under us
at twice the speed of sound.

by Laura Foley, first published in Peacock Journal.

Editor’s Note: In this poem, the narrator’s relationship to a departed loved one uses surreality to suggest the ephemerality of connection.