Being in my office with no poetry books handy, one of the few I know by heart:

-- ditto:




Tragedy

I always wanted a red balloon
They only cost a dime
But Ma said it was risky,
They broke too quickly
And besides,
She didn’t have the time
And even if she did,
She didn’t think they were worth a dime.

We lived in the country
And I only went
To one circus and fair
And all the balloons
I ever saw were there.
There were green ones
And yellow ones
But the kind I liked the best were red
And I don’t see why
She couldn’t have stopped and said,
Well, maybe I could have one.
But she didn’t.

I live in the city now
And I’ve got the time
And no one to tell me how to spend my dime
Plenty of balloons –
But somehow,
Something has died inside of me
And I don’t want one, now.