Balloons

CLICK HERE TO HEAR AUTHOR READ

Another one shot down

by an F-15. 

Fourth this week.

Montana, Yukon, Alaska, Lake Huron.

Apparently our airspace 

is teeming with balloons

and no one was paying attention.

Fighter jets and missiles are ready.  

Reminds me of my daughter 

who was petrified of balloons, 

refused to attend birthday parties.

At the time I thought it strange.

What kind of kid

shuns cake and ice cream

for fear of an unexpected pop?!

We got over 

the embarrassment of her over-

sensitivity as a groundswell of empathy

among parents grew into a movement

against balloons at birthday parties,

balloonless birthdays

became a thing,

and our daughter

could soon celebrate aging

with her friends again. 

Personally, I missed the balloons.

The held-breath

of them,

the feeling of being surrounded

by multi-coloured corpuscular orbs

on the verge of explosion 

like an aneurysm.

As I got older

I found myself looking skyward

for no apparent reason,

thinking a balloon might appear

out of nowhere

like an omen

O.