The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Flight Commander

I’ve seen dancers flying
acrobats flying
gymnasts flying

but the best flight
I ever saw
was the flight of a basketball

launched by a small lad
in the school yard
towards the hoop

and I can still see the flight
of that basketball
as it leaves that boy’s hands

as though the flight path
is marked in the air
as though the boy
was a flight commander.

About the Writer


Rob Walton

Scunthorpe-born Rob Walton is a writer, performer and part-time primary school teacher who now lives with his family in Whitley Bay. He writes poetry and short fiction for children and adults. His poetry for children has been published by Bennison Books, Bloomsbury, The Dirigible Balloon, Dreich, The Emma Press, Frances Lincoln, Macmillan, Tyger Tyger and others.