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Tuesday, December 25, 2018

RED BALLOON AT CHRISTMAS

by Darrell Petska 

Be my poem
oh red balloon

fly true from my hand
unhindered by distraction

soaring beyond all borders
fording tidal winds

unto receptive eyes
that take your words to heart.

Herald hope
to those without it

testify to love
in the face of hate

and bare your soul
before the distrustful--

your tatters proof
of high intention.


An 8-year-old girl in Mexico attached a note for Santa to a
balloon. Randy Heiss found it across the border in Patagonia,
Ariz., on Dec. 16. —Washington Post, December 21, 2018


We must be more
oh red balloon

than bladdered air
upon cold ether

breath's exhaust
dangling a string.








Darrell Petska is a Middleton, Wisconsin poet.