The Balloon Poem by Ben Barton

The balloon rises,
filthy air
The glint of cobble
caught in her hair
She should have held on
But it's too late
The string is flapping
Helium is hate

It reached for the sun
unhappy for now
But the deed was done
It rose through sky foul

The clown who sold it
Was no use at all
But sooner not later,
it started to fall -

Finally, a smile
She shouted all her worth
And it came down tumbling,
crashing to Earth

It lay in her hands,
lifeless and limp
That smaller, deflated
burnt-up old blimp

It wanted the sky,
and she wouldn't send
But she kept it,
her only friend...