Golden Shackles

We played Scrabble until the word Bali came up- and you were gone. That night your pillow smelled of ocean breezes, coconut and heliconia. When you came back- I want to be free. I built a body balloon around you and filled it with helium. I let out the tether and you went up and up and up to the jet stream. I released the tether. A man in a 747, business class, saw you float by. I want her- he wrote in his day planner. Soon, you fell and fell towards the African forest and into a tree. A leopard started to climb up to you but you dropped onto the back of an elephant who carried you into a brightly lit camp with a table, tablecloth, candles, wine and gold silverware- Ah, there you are, my dear. You ate and drank and awoke covered with golden shackles. The leopard slept beneath you snuffing as though in a dream. Above you a taunting helicline made of gold keys lead back to our little room under the eaves, and the rain and days filled with nothing.