Helium Heaven

Arm in arm we watched the balloon rising in the air
Late sunlight dappling the dry lake-bed
Helping it on its way, lest it should catch and tear
On a branch, and not soar into the burning red
Of sunset, writhing in the wind like a tadpole
Shrinking, until engulfed by a mass of blazing cloud
Lost in droplets, weaving, unsure of its role
Until bursting from its damp, ragged shroud
Finds itself in dark, endless silence
Where stars burn crisply on row upon row
Of fellow balloons, loosed over the years by love intense
Between people like us, on the sphere below
What each may contain I cannot say
Perhaps months of dreaming, blue eyes closing
Scents of summer in fields stacked with hay
Limbs clasped together on grass by rivers dozing
Bare flesh pale at midnight, tender in the dark
Lips always touching, sweet like rain
Waking early as the cry of the unseen lark
Mingles with dewdrops on the window-pane
One day they'll fall, and burst, our thirst to slake
Showering memories will caress like rain
Bringing times we'd missed, nights by the lake,
Times we'd thought never to see again.