The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Lament of the Dog Ball

Listen to Helen's poem ... read by JH
He chews me and chomps me.
I’ve no eyes to glower.

He slicks me with slobber,
I don’t get to shower.

His teeth pound my skin till
my squeak drives me nutty.

His gnawing is dogged—
it turns me to putty.

He drops me in mud
when we’re out for a jog.

In my next life . . . guess what?
It’s my turn as the dog.

About the Writer


Helen Kemp Zax

Helen Kemp Zax loves to write poetry, especially poems that rhyme. She was thrilled to be selected co-winner of the 2021 YorkMix International Children’s Poetry Prize, the 2018 MG Katherine Paterson Prize winner, and a 2019 Finalist. Her poetry appears in many wonderful children’s poetry anthologies like Chasing Clouds and in many magazines like The Caterpillar. Helen lives in Washington, D. C. with her husband and their crazy Aussie-doodle Huckleberry Finn.