Poem 20160209b

the oxygen is thin
and getting thinner
at this great height

we drift, together
but apart from everything else
and maybe from each other, too

–the earth is a mirror,
you say,
–look how from here the lights
the lights from all the cities
all those billions with their candles
and torches
and upturned hopeful eyes
look how they look like stars

i would laugh if there weren’t
so little air
and i manage to gasp out
as the tank reads zero
and your gloved hand slips from mine
–as above, so below