Challenging Poetry

why the balloon rose

when you see my balloon,
do not grieve my loss.
they tied the string around
my wrist, and I looked at it,
so blue and happy and bobbing
up and down as I moved
like a pet or a bird. I like birds.
they’re so pretty when they fly
away, pausing at the cage door
as though they can’t quite
believe their luck, then launching
up into the air, free.
and so I tugged on the string
over and again, even though
Mama told me not to, and Papa
told her, hush, balloons teach
children how to lose, and I wasn’t
listening to them, because it was free
and it paused for a moment,
thanking me, and then it rose.
the sky was so blue and my balloon was
bluer as it danced away into the winter
sun to the sound of my laughter.


written in response to:
https://allpoetry.com/A-Winter-Noon