up here / down there

===

up here 

you are thinner,

longer, not taller

up here,

your head fills

with the humors of your body

your body,

meanwhile, floats

before you, parts unknown

up here,

your body learns

there is no down, no up, here

===

I have been almost

nowhere, almost

been everywhere.

I could see France

ten times a day

if there were days.

Fine chocolate

sent from there

tastes of wax here.

Food is warm

but here there is

no smoke or steam.

===

And then to sleep,

to end the day,

if there were days.

Rolled tight, I wrap

me in my arms,

if they are mine.

===

Over Africa, we are

a moving star, over

Antarctica, we shine.

I have flown over 

you many times

as we dreamed out our sleep.

===

I have nothing to do

with the weight

of the world

for now.

But soon, in the curl

of my ear,

I will feel it return. 

===


[[

https://www.wired.com/2014/11/marsha-ivins/

"But zero-g also has some disadvantages. As that fluid shifts north, you get an enormous headache."

"One of the strangest experiences in space is one of the simplest on Earth: sleeping. ... If you don’t tuck your arms into the bag, they drift out in front of you. Sometimes you wake up in the morning to see an arm floating in front of your face and think, “Whoa! What is that?” until you realize it’s yours."

"When you return, your inner ear—which keeps you balanced on Earth and which has been essentially turned off for the duration of your trip—feels a little gravity and becomes unbelievably sensitive."

]]