Love is a balloon.
You start as just a deflated ball,
but then someone fills you up,
and you can fly.

Many chase after you,
but only the one who tries hardest
can win you over.
When that person catches you,
you become the best
and bounciest balloon,
floating and spinning
just for them.

But if that person lets you go,
you can do nothing,
and into the atmosphere you soar.
High up in the clouds,
you explode,
and you become shreds and pieces
of your former self.
Once you are back on the ground,
A new person picks you up
but only to throw you away,
and you are swallowed
by the trash can.

Life becomes pointless.
You wait,
come sunrise again and again,
but never does your lover return.
Would they have been bothered to try,
they could have found you in a landfill,
surrounded by forgotten objects like you.
But by then,
their mistake cannot be fixed.
You are broken,
irreparable,
and irreplaceable.

Had that person held on,
slowly would you deflate
and they would weep
over their loss
for you cannot
be reinflated.

Had the roles been switched,
would you have held on
to your balloon?
Would you have taken the pain
of losing a loved one
rather than the pain
of being lost?

‘Tis hard to tell.
A balloon gets only one shot at love,
and if it is a failure,
the balloon withers in the clouds.
When given a partner,
a balloon has found its soul mate.
But the human lover can choose
their own balloon.
They can afford to make a wrong call,
for if they do,
they will find another balloon.
Maybe it will end up in the landfill, too.

Love is a balloon.
You are held captive by your lover,
the one who caught you.
You are happy with them
But with a simple slip of their hand,
your happiness floats away
and pops just like you.

Don’t ever
let your lover
let you go.