Out Of It
by Louis Jenkins

I’m out of it these days. I guess I have less interest in
keeping up to date on what’s happening. I don’t know
the names of most of the current movie stars and have not
seen their movies. Same for the music scene. I have not
read what everyone is reading. I don’t know what’s on
TV. I’m out of it, but not too far out. I figure somewhere
between 12 to 18 inches. I’ve noticed that when someone
speaks to me he or she seems to be addressing a space
just a little to my right or left. When it first happened I
thought my acquaintance was speaking to someone else.
I looked around but there was no one else there. I’ve
tried moving to adjust the conversational direction but
the speaker only readjusts. I realized that if I kept moving
our conversation would be going in circles. So now I just
stand still and let the talk continue at cross-purposes. It
is getting worse. Sometimes I can’t make any sense at all
of what someone is saying, as if he were speaking Welsh.
Then I remember that I am in Wales and he is speaking
Welsh.