Sometimes when I go to get him
he’s asleep, among the papered walls
of azure and emerald hot-air balloons.
His wild engines still silent, peace unseen
during waking, when arms seize
and legs contract. I hesitate to wake him
from his reverie of sleep or intrude
in his treasured inner rooms.
But sometimes he is sitting, his hand
tapping steady beats on the wall,
and when I flip the light switch he turns
to look at me, his hazel gaze locking mine,
and I could swear that he knows me,
that he pilots every balloon ride toward home.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 24, Issue 1.
Ellis Elliott has been published in Belle Ombre, The Broken Plate, Brushfire Literature & Arts Journal, Copperfield Review Quarterly, OPEN: Journal of Arts and Letters, Riggwelter, Neologism Poetry Journal, Perceptions Magazine, Plainsongs, Sheila-Na-Gig, Sierra Nevada Review, and elsewhere. She participated in the Palm Beach Poetry Festival 2015 Workshop with poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from Rhodes College and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University.See all items about Ellis Elliott
