Launching

Once upon a time, you and I were
living happily ever after. We believed
ourselves the only life forms
capable of communication, despite
how ours was breaking
down daily and the very soil
of our home planet, our embraces
turning toxic. I remember thinking
how if I left you, there would be no
air no gravity no sun no light no skin
to hold my spilling innards in,
to stop me from falling a
part    un    til    at    last

the atmosphere of our for ever after grew
too shrunken, too hot, unbreathable, meaning
nothing for it but to launch off, break through,
float, fall and fly and                    Oh,

from that distance, in that vastness, sweet
silence, Oh, what new sounds to hear, and Oh,
Oh how small, like a child's lost marble,
the whole thing looked.