We listened to the speech on that rainy Thursday afternoon, feeling lost and small in the eager crowd. Although most politicized environments discouraged us, we knew this one was important, and we began to make out some kind of thread in the delivery.
All worlds are escapes, and all beings are worlds. It is easy to ignore this unifying (and also diversifying) quality, and forget that our state of escape is full-time. We are on such permanent stays. What is this world’s vocabulary and infrastructure. How shall we know where we are.
“Somehow we navigate it with our hands.”
“Somehow.”
“It’s difficult.”
“And risky.”
Someone raised his hand and asked, “But when a person disappears over the horizon, generally how far is that person from where you stand?”
I knew the technically correct answer – it was on my tongue – but I swallowed it, and let the usual wistfulness take hold of me again.
