Our romance began long distance. We were too broke to see each other as often as we wanted. So, we learned to talk bravely, listen attentively, over the phone. Even now, thirty years later, one of us is often traveling. This morning, here I am, walking in the New England woods; there he is, waking in a mid-west time zone. For a half an hour, while I speak intensely into this thing in my hand, I can tell he's listening, because from this thing in my hand he's responding compassionately. Then, I remember a Robert Bly poem I read years ago – about the ineffable something he calls a third body that's created out of a deep connection between a man and a woman who love each other, and last.

When I get home, I look up this poem,The Third Body, and wonder if that's what a cell phone must be.

All photos and text by Kelly DuMar 2017 unless otherwise attributed