This Red Balloon

This red balloon with broken string is floating into the sky, I watch it swaying and jerking, as it enters the atmosphere, Lost sadly to this earth of ours, it now says a last goodbye, Sailing towards the fleecy clouds, it invites the wind to steer. Had a small hand let go the string, so escape was rather fast, Twirling away, those powerful currents assuring a final climb. Slowly receding into the blue, disappearing back to the past, Lost in that extensive vast place, a gap in space and time. Unencumbered now, it unhurriedly continues to journey on, Perhaps it was a child's treasure, a simple pleasing thing, Thinking about it, to whom I wonder, did it once belong, This red balloon, that's floating with a trailing broken string. © Ernestine Northover