red balloon rising,
girl drifts through pearled blue water
carrying her dreaming light.
fish glide like soft thoughts,
stars bloom where her wonder moves,
imagination afloat.
We warmed the bench with cold stares,
holding onto yesterday’s glass of champagne.
A boy cried somewhere,
loosening his grip on a balloon
that slipped into a sky that never looks back.
Should I pity a crying child,
or an adult swallowing storms in silence?
“I should go,” she said, and
I found my hand reaching for hers,
like a child clinging to his mother
as she nears the grocery counter too soon,
hoping time would stall,
hoping something small could still be saved.
But some things are no-brainers,
inevitable as gravity,
the balloon has flown,
belonging now to no one,
or maybe to everything but us.
The child stopped crying
when his mother placed a bar of chocolate
into his waiting hands.
And I envied him,
because how does a child receive sweetness after sorrow,
while an adult is handed a weapon
and told to be brave instead of held?
No chocolate, no comfort,
just something sharp enough
to silence the trembling.
I guess that’s why
I stand where I stand,
not as someone to be soothed,
but as someone to be used.
I guess
I really am
His favorite soldier.
The stars are jellyfish,
The planet is a cloud.
Now our only wish
Is to touch the ground.
We live in space
In a hot air balloon
Longing to see the face
Of the Man on the Moon
Balloon, pumped with pomp and flair,
but don't you realize, it's only air,
and one day it all must stop -
the sad day that you will pop,
or do you even care?
My blue Ballon flies up so
high,
It looks like a dot in the sky,
I wave to it as it goes by.
A wise man unwritten letter
To his future self
A prickly feeling that keeps one on their feet
You notice the other but never yourself
You make time for the other
Stand on your feet and call out mistakes
A wild free feeling
Wanting for the wind
Can't grasp it
It's fleeting yet memorable
A whisper in the morning
A loud cry in the night
Exchanged letters and clothes
To become a memory no one should talk about
Cupcakes on Mondays
Sorbet on Thursdays
But you preferred Saturdays
Confessions said out loud
The heart not so sure
A wild free feeling
It's the magic they all talk about
To only turn devastating and tragic
Makes you wonder
It changes
Against two people
What becomes of it when a third arrives?
I haven't experienced it
But this is my definition
Comprehension is never taking seriously
Only the lucky ones
What is it actually?
It's quite haunting and daunting
If you ask me
I wanted to know what it was like
But I was scared my balloon will fly away
When I give it out
Sun in His Bare Hands
A boy walks bare feet through hot street
With balloons like sun he holds with pride
His hands are cracked, the summer burns
Through hot street, bare feet, the boy walks
The summer burns, his skin like coal
His hands are cracked, the summer burns
He waits for coins, eyes calm and gold
With skin like coal, the summer burns
He waits for coins, eyes calm and gold
With sad balloons, he stands alone
His heart is pearl no dust can soil
Eyes calm and gold, for coins he waits
His heart is pearl no dust can soil
Across the road his thin feet roam
One day he’ll rise above the thorn
No dust can soil, the pearl of heart
Of all the devices and doo-dads
on this crazy planet
I’d never choose to be a balloon
For you simply cannot top
their odds of being popped ~
or of landing successfully on the moon
balloon witch matched her outfit with her balloons from her shelf
She would turn in the mirror this way and that, embellishing herself
If she wore purple and pink, her balloons might be those colors and white
She went nowhere without her balloons, they were her signature all right
If you did not see the balloons, you would not see the balloon witch
Matching was everything to her, she went nowhere without this little glitch
But what is she does not have the right colors? Someone asked me.
She has a magic cauldron that spits gowns and coats out totally free.
floating
princess covered
Disney moneymaker
helium birthday gift for girls
balloon
The wind said, "Spring is coming soon"
and launched a trial balloon.
That zephyr that blew soft
bore a pioneering seed aloft.
A flower sprouted from the ground,
Others followed. They now abound.
My past was like a red balloon
It inflated yet burst too soon
The air dispersed without a boon
And it echoed my afternoon
My blissful days seemed like a cake
But sweetness became overbaked
The aftertaste could never slake
As moments were just underbaked
Yet days and nights remain my gift
Of life that brings lasting uplift
Even if candles fade and drift
My fire ignites through snowdrift
Though balloons may burst in distress
And cakes may unleash bitterness
My soul with Him dwells in wholeness
And my heart blooms forth in pureness
Bad balloon
Harassing the enchanting moon
Covering song performed by wham
While playing lead singer in the legendary contra band
Dropping buds
Not knowing what?
Is going on
Fooling around, dropping potential cancerous bombs
Smoking I mean
Luring teens
Turning them ugly, abusive and mean
Disrupting travel
Unleash verdict’s parachute gavel
Sentencing the trip, ‘unravel’
Due to going pop
Taking a sniper shot
Sending the cargo towards the ground
Hopefully, found
Going down
Identified not the telescope, Hubble
Now in major, government trouble
It’s fantasy bubble
Has no one to cuddle
Realizing action was a must
Peaceful bust
Sending bad balloon to an eternal rest
Deeming it the best
Allowing the mess
To confess
And surrender, accepting arrest
Sunday matinee Pepé Le Pew
patiently stood in line in a queue
holding colourful balloons
to watch Looney Tunes cartoons
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Dear Belarus
We need a truce
From the deceptive abuse
Balloons in flight
We all see the commerce sight
Bringing packs of smoke
Sounding like a crooked joke
When they drop
Stop
Think what they will do to our future crop
Using those former theatrical cool props
Known to charm
Reality doing harm
Luring youth to a picture filled with power
Cowboys and planted flowers
Puffing away
Later who will pay
Believing the marketed, product to sell
Distorting human blood cells
Paving a pathway through hell
Still weary
Our other theory
Raisin
About this floating invasion
Where territory gets its mark
Sending a message in the dark
We can shoot them down
If they do not turn around
And go home
All alone
Pondering everything
Especially who has the talent to sing
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