Mylar/Helium - Edit2

[dukealien]

Edit2;

Mylar/Helium


Glitter-blue, a cartoon star
birthday helium balloon
wrinkled, half-inflated
crosses six busy freeway lanes
low, kitten-played
by unsettled crosswinds.

Mylar abides forever
unbiodegradable;
helium contrives
escape from all confinements.

As between flesh and spirit
meme and material
which is Mylar and which helium?
Flesh escapes, evanesces,
recycles after giving
life its declining lift
but meme and spirit
though they drift and tatter
seeming empty or forgotten
nonetheless endure.

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@vagabond - Thanks for your fine read and critique of this rather light (g) work.   This edit addresses your objections, except for the last.

You get the speculation here, and I get that having spirit or meme carry on forever is a disquieting concept ("to sleep, perchance to dream - aye, there's the rub" - W.S.).  But, y'know, does spirit really care if you wish it didn't go on forever if it just does?

On the subject of mylar being flammable... under most sublunary circumstances it's not.  Aircraft fires (pure oxygen, aluminum, and electricity) will do it sometimes.  I also had, at one time, the duty of destroying certain punched mylar tapes with the added proviso that neither I nor the other guy watching, armed, could actually see them at any time for fear we'd somehow photo-memorize  the contents.  Without going into the mechanics of solving this puzzle, the end result is a very fine ash, some lumps from the container, and an amazingly bad smell which may just be the observer's olfactory tissues breaking down.