The Only Acceptable Balloons
Listen to Gillian ...
I don’t care for most balloons.
Nothing is more tense
than watching them
creep around a party,
with their bright colours,
trying to appear harmless,
sneaking up on people,
getting under their feet.
But one careless step
could end the world, it seems.
Like ghosts of balls
or spacehoppers (very fun!),
they haunt and taunt,
and if you go around
with your hands over
your ears in anticipation
of the terror,
people laugh at you
(which is understandable
but still embarrassing).
But a hot air balloon –
that’s a proper balloon!
Soaring, roaring,
gliding through gentle clouds
with birds as friends
swooping over landscapes
which we wouldn’t
notice otherwise,
and most importantly,
will not pop.
Nothing is more tense
than watching them
creep around a party,
with their bright colours,
trying to appear harmless,
sneaking up on people,
getting under their feet.
But one careless step
could end the world, it seems.
Like ghosts of balls
or spacehoppers (very fun!),
they haunt and taunt,
and if you go around
with your hands over
your ears in anticipation
of the terror,
people laugh at you
(which is understandable
but still embarrassing).
But a hot air balloon –
that’s a proper balloon!
Soaring, roaring,
gliding through gentle clouds
with birds as friends
swooping over landscapes
which we wouldn’t
notice otherwise,
and most importantly,
will not pop.
This poem is copyright (©) Gillian Spiller 2026
About the Writer
Gillian Spiller
Gillian Spiller is a Scottish poet and children’s author, who has spent many years living and teaching in S-E Asia, E Asia and the Middle East. She is the author of four picture books, The Blue Sock (2019), Star Sailor (2020), On The Shelf (2021) and A Shell for Cleo (2022) by Marshall Cavendish Ltd. (Asia). Her poetry for children is available on the British Council’s Learn English Kids website, as well as here on The Dirigible Balloon.
