A woman stands
With a red balloon in her hand
She looks tired
And lonely
Standing there by herself
Her only company
The little red balloon
Some say she is looking
for innocence she lost long ago
Some claim she is waiting
For her little girl
To come home
Some say she is watching
For her husband to return
And others say
She is just a woman
Waiting to grow old
She had stood there
Each day
Since I can remember
Always silent
Always standing
With her little red balloon
She doesn’t approach anyone
Or utter a word
Just silently watching
For something untold

One day I returned
To find that woman
But she was gone
Vanished
From the spot
That had become hers
All that was left
Has the popped red balloon
Shriveled and empty
Left lying in her place
I walked over
To the remnants
Of that balloon
It didn’t seem right
To throw it away
So I vowed to keep it
Until I would see her again
I would return it to her
And she would finally say
Why she had been waiting for so long
And who the balloon belong to
But she never came back
And I forgot about the balloon
But I wonder now
Why did she leave
Did she find what she needed
Or did she just grow too weary
To stay in her place
So I bought my own
Little red balloon
And took it to her spot
And let it go
I watched it drift
Farther and farther away
Now they have gone together
Where I do not know
But the woman
And her little red balloon
Are together at last
No longer waiting
But found at last