When the big red balloon is filled with hot air
\nIt rises.
\nTo be nudged by an evening breeze
\nFirst left, then right
\nOr carried downwind like an inflated sail
\nBlooming in the clear morning.<\/p>\n
In the beginning there are
\nyards and yards of billowing cloth
\nInflated by an electric fan.
\nThen the propane flame heats
\nthe air in that red cave.<\/p>\n
Heat.
\nSpew heat.
\nWait. Spew heat.
\nSpew. Keep it hot. Keep it hot.<\/p>\n
The warm air takes the shape of a
\nballoon clutching a tiny basket
\nwith its wire claws.
\nWe rise.<\/p>\n
The horizon expands.
\nThe countryside spreads below.
\nThe basket becomes a floating room In the evening sky.<\/p>\n
Keep it hot. Keep it hot. Spew.
\nThe burners stop all comment.
\nThe heat beats down on one’s head.
\nThe world unfolds on an idle breeze. So.<\/p>\n
Then there’s a sinking.
\nGradually noticeable.
\nThen hard not to notice.
\nStill spewing, but lower.
\nMuch lower.
\nNow hesitant. Suspended for a moment.
\nThen down again with knees bent.<\/p>\n
Bouncing the way a ping pong ball clicks across the table.
\nWe come to rest.
\nThe red balloon preens before an admiring crowd.
\nSpew.
\nA beacon to the neighborhood.
\nPerched upon the earth…almost floating.
\n“Weight!”
\nNailed to the earth by willing helpers.
\nNow pulling the thermal plug.
\nHot air mingles with the cold.<\/p>\n
The red balloon shivers.
\nCollapsing its heat into the night.
\nSpread shriveled on the ground
\nits claws are loosened from the prisoner basket.<\/p>\n
Condensed into a canvas sack
\nThe splendor awaits
\nThe propane torch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the big red balloon is filled with hot air It rises. To be nudged by an evening breeze First left, then right Or carried downwind like an inflated sail Blooming in the clear morning. In the beginning there are yards and yards of billowing cloth Inflated by an electric fan. Then the propane flame […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2570"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3412,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570\/revisions\/3412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otownmedia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}