The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

What am I?

I fly each winter evening with a wafting wand of white

I skate the face of buildings every cloudless freezing night

I crawl upon your windows, freeze each water drop to dew

to paint you pretty pictures in a silvery sort of hue.

I do not come out travelling in a rainy, misty squall;

and if there is a cloud about, I do not come at all.

I like a clear and starry sky with a wintery silver moon

that’s shining like a crescent bright or big as a giant’s spoon.

I make the trailing icicles that hang down thin and long

then let them snap like flimsy glass because they are not strong;

and with a wind behind me I leap every garden hedge

then freeze the leaves in Rime frost leaving droplets on the edge;

and when the day is over and you’re snuggled warm inside

and it’s a clear dark winter’s night – my perfect time to ride -

remember if you see me leaving patterns on your glass

just give a cheery wave and say “Hello!” as I fly past.



About the Writer


Fran Bridger

Frances lives on Exmoor and always writes a poem for the local Exmoor News. She has been published in Mslexia, the Parrakeet Magazine and the Dirigible Balloon. In response to a relative's death during covid she published a book of poems to raise funds for Marie Curie. Much of her poetry reflects the environment, wildlife, farming, and nature.