I am talking with my clone

I am talking to my clone,
who is visiting from the US.

He is listless, likely lagged,
so I carry the conversation:

"Lately, I have been thinking of taking up the oboe," I say.
"It is light enough to carry and the Orchestra needs
An oboist to tune the strings section. 
Even you could give it a go.

"Perhaps I could be a back-up oboist,
should the conductor feel.
If the regular one is unable to make it." (Keeping it real.)
"I just need to play a steady A."

He gives me a sidelong glance. 
It’s an ‘Are you serious?’ remonstrance.

"I joined a Rotary club and we’re helping
people with Hansen’s disease in China. 

"The afflicted can only be reached
During a few months of the year, when it’s dry.
The topography and washed out roads are why.

"Some of their children still get to school by zip lines 
shuttling between mountain villages in Sichuan. 
Milky clouds floating over foamy rivers beneath them." 

I think of asking him if he has any travel plans:
Bangkok, Hanoi, perhaps Siem Reap?
But do not because he has fallen asleep.  

He is, after all, much older.