Balloon Man - Richard Shindell

I’m standing outside on the balcony

Balloon man is passing below

Making his way to the park by the church

He goes where the little ones go

Balloon man’s a little bit ragged

His glasses are slightly askew

One lens is cracked and shoes never match

He might have a screw loose or two

And you’re so far away

On the other side of the world

I thought you might like to know

That balloon man lives in it too

His rig is a marvel of equipoise

Leonardo might’ve designed

Bamboo for the wide horizontal

Pine for the vertical rise

He’s wearing in a flag-bearers harness

He’s holding the whole thing aloft

Balloons all arrayed, he’s a one man parade

If he ran he’d surely take off

And you’re so far away

On the other side of the world

I just thought you should know

That balloon man lives in it too

But it’s cold up here on the balcony

And it’s time that I went back inside

Balloon man waits for the light at the corner

I’ll watch til he goes out of sight

But there’s a wind that whips round the corner

And he’s having a hell of a time

He staggers and it looks like he might just go over

But balloon man he puts up a fight

And you’re so far away

On the other side of the world

I just thought you should know

That balloon man lives in it too