NIGHT WATCH

0230 MYT* March 8^th 2014

Something’s wrong:

we should be heading north

but by my reckoning we’re south-west.

I have a good sense of direction

from my years of sailing.

For an hour we’ve seen no lights of land:

the cabin staff have disappeared.

0430

Our direction has not changed

for the past two hours.

Passengers are restless,

hungry, thirsty;

no news from the cockpit:

are we on autopilot?

0530

I think a silent catastrophe

has overtaken us. 

I’m writing these thoughts

on my phone, and soon

I’ll seal it

in a strong container

I carry on flights

for fear.

0630

I wandered

towards the cockpit:

agitation is growing.

Knocking on the cockpit door

elicits no response:

it’s like the chest of a man

whose heart has stopped.

0700 MYT

I fear for the children:

their parents try to reassure them

but there’s a limit to stories,

an end to lies.

0800 MYT

Sunrise. I hope against hope

that my calculation’s wrong:

we will soon be out of fuel

thousands of miles from land.

0817 MYT

I’ll finish now and seal my phone –

my personal black box –

I am frightened now.

*Malaysian time