BALLOON
she walks along her mommy's side
walking through sweet grass
bumpy sidewalks--
broken and bumpy
as only Houston sidewalks can be--
happy, frisky, bouncing along

suddenly frightening!
scary thing!
big & pink with a red tail!
it bounces all by itself,
all by itself,
without a master
without legs
without a face
it bounces and moves
it floats on the grass
coming closer and closer
and she is scared--
mommy, get me away from this thing
grrrrrrrr, grrrrrrrrr
she growls low in her throat;
i'll scare you too
and you better not get close
mommy, please don't make me walk too close
where are we going?
oh thank you, mommy!
we're going around and around it--
and now it's gone!
thank you mommy, thank you
i'm safe.

5/28/06