Lullaby to a Cloud

This is a simple telling of a simple incident that occurred last night after a long day’s worth of threatening cloud cover.

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I saw you, small cloud,
Peaceful outlier drifting just behind
After the storm had passed and the night sky
Grew suddenly full of stars.
And I wondered if you felt my love
For you, small cloud,
In all your innocence, fragile burst
Of vapor torn softly from the storm,
Following tardily, unaware
Of the great battle of the wind and clouds,
Unaware of danger in the heavens,
Playing at the feet of the stars.
As I watched, your form softened,
Edges fading into the vast black night,
And I feared for you
As you gently, gradually dissolved,
Still drifting eastward after your distant tribe
Until you vanished altogether from the sky.
Then I realized you were made to form and fade,
To take shape and disappear all in an hour,
And that whatever the unmaking might mean,
It was not your death I saw,
Not yours, small cloud.