Breathless

You rose flying,
finally breathless
toward that welcome end
and reached
to brush the clouds
at its bottom.

I grasped carefully
the one thin thread
you held still wrapped
on your other hand
knowing that by then
it was only as strong
as you wanted it to be,
and felt your light tugs
at the other end.

You
were an erratic dark kite
backlit in a thunderstorm
and I did not dare
to pull you back
against that chaotic strength
any longer
felt, suddenly conducted,
the giant electricity
of your flight through
black rain and lightning,
saw your thin thread begin
to fall free back to earth
then found these burn scars
already cooling on my hands.