I bought a red balloon today
It was round and shiny and bright
I smiled as it gently swayed
All bouncy and floaty and light

I don't know why it made me happy
Tied to a piece of string
I suppose when we all feel ******
It helps us cope with things

It dazzled like a beacon up high
On this day so dark and grey
But it brought smiles to passers by
Something to brighten up their day

But then I looked at this balloon
As it glowed above my head
Its beauty and life will deflate soon
So I let it go instead

Fly little red balloon.....

I have looked at sunsets as long as they lasted
the reds and the golds and the pinks of them
the play of light on the edges of clouds
the changing shadows over the land.
I have watched the sea steadily rolling in wave after wave
breaking against the rocks with the energy of distant storms
or gently lapping at softer shores.
I have gazed up at the brilliance
of a black night of stars million upon million
no moon to dim their richness.
I have seen the hidden blues and greens in a slow river of ice.
I have known forests and mountains.

I have known you also and you no less
are part of the universe.  I can admire
the changing sky in the colour of your eyes
the moving sea in the curve of your neck
the wonder of an opening rosebud
in the crook of your elbow.

Children
stop your tears
this life
is just a diversion
This pain you feel
will end.
It has to end