Richard Tuch, dean of training at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles, has been published in TAP before, with his poem “Marriage's Promise?” This current poem, “On a plane heading East,” speaks to something we have all encountered. The sharing of intimate space with strangers, while zooming along above 30,000 feet, a bit of a captive audience. His poem speaks to the best possible outcome of such intimacy—finding something of a kindred spirit.
Tuch is also a training and supervising analyst at the New Center for Psychoanalysis, LA, and the Psychoanalytic Center of California, and clinical professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.
On a plane heading East
Like an icebreaker through this lonely life You travelFearlessly friending whoever's aboutGetting on beyond making doMining opportunities as they presentSo different are weMy fellow traveling partnerBy sheer happenstanceUpgraded were weOut of the bowels of coachTo sit side by sideIn near luxuryAnd freely converseAbout, you know, whateverIn free dialogueIt was all quite unexpectedThough not by youSeeing that your life's composedOf just such encountersAs I came to learnDuring our flight togetherOn that pre-Thanksgiving nightYou reached out to meIn ways I would never doInto my all too shy soulMercifully providing meA momentary sense of companionshipDuring an otherwise impersonal flightOn that dark and cold November nightHeading EastTo be with thoseWe loveSome flight-long conversations prove ghastlyThe product of sheer circumstanceHeld captive by those who are needlyWho seize upon any chanceTo borrow an earThat's not freely lentOblivious to how unwelcomedAnd tortuousSuch chatter can beThankfully spared of that fateBy your ample intellectAnd the fact we instantly recognized likenessIn one anotherThat spans generationsYou provided great entertainmentFor which I say“You're very welcomed”And, of course,“Thank You”My fleeting companionBy sheer happenstance.
Sheri Butler Hunt, M.D., is an adult training and consulting analyst and a child consulting analyst in the child division at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. A published poet and member of TAP‘s editorial board, she welcomes readers’ comments, suggestions, and poetry submissions at .