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She is 
content to be
where she is

between earth and sky
sipping coffee at a black table
in a white-walled cafe
reading a book
but not quite in the pages  her eyes wander to where
people are plugged in
to free Wi-Fi on laptops—
their eyes roam, scan the room
focused and unfocused.

She believes there is 
no presence of time
in her absent life—
hours, minutes, seconds are
insignificant
there is neither before, nor
an after,
to now she is indifferent

she smiles at the woman seated
at the next table
the one with headphones—
she too is absent from the present
she too is here but not here

the smile that passes between them
a single, cordless connection.

© Neetu Malik