the balloonists
there were many
who went by balloon in those days
and there was one
who found a way to throw
clods of mud
from the ground
to the balloons -sometimes
He knocked them sideways, blocked an
ascent valve, or just spattered
the gondola's occupants .Still , the
balloons followed the wind , which formed
ridges
in the sky
that they would drift along the edges of
not blind , not uncaring
just not particularly motile
without the wind .Reaching higher
many joined great stratospheric wind-lines
and scudded rapid through the sky
below , Tom (the mud guy) could see this organization, far
above his throwing range and
whirling up the sky behind him and before him ; mad
with fear , he fled one way and then another , eventually
to collapse upon the ground, arms
folded over his head, weeping, terrified.
2010 Peter Greene.
