Living Bubbles

I

We flew our clear-glass bubbles

side by side

Or I’d watch hers rise

as mine brushed the ground

then the bushes

and flew past my friend

when it was her time to sink

my time to soar

II

Some days we balanced on top

slip-sliding, lighter than angels

Then we’d crawl safe inside

waving from our sun-prism bubble globes

as we drowsed in our floating cradles

III

In her bubble

a dark space

grew but

I never noticed

since she spent

the most time sitting

on top of her bubble

smiling when I laughed

looking sad when I cried

One day she fled inside to tearless silence-

The bubble burst pin hidden

in her sleeve