The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Tree

My inhale
is your exhale,
your green
is my relief -
your quiet patience,
silent growth,
each branch, each twig,
each leaf.

Your inhale
is my exhale,
you whisper
‘I am here.’
The woodland creatures,
earth, and sky -
all those that know -
they care.

We inhale,
we exhale,
a dance we do
together.
Oh tree
if we just understood,
we need you
more than ever.

About the Writer


Melinda Szymanik

Melinda is an award-winning New Zealand author of picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults. Notable titles include The Were-Nana (Scholastic, 2008) winner of Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, A Winter’s Day in 1939 (Scholastic, 2013) winner of Librarian’s Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle (Scholastic, 2016) a 2017 White Raven selection. She also writes poetry for adults and children, and regularly teaches creative writing.