(a double tanka of)
helium
..
her mama gave her
a balloon with Mickey ears.
no hesitation,
(fly!) she let go of the string
and giggled it to the clouds.
forty years later,
with a full inflated heart,
tired empty hands
and a penchant for worn truth,
she is still watching the sky.
.
Prompted by OctPoWriMo, day 6.
Whimsygizmo's Blog 
Awesome… I write a lot of tanka… I like this a lot!
This gave me chills.
Nice. Love this, De.
Reblogged this on The Corner Table and commented:
Awww! What a lovely piece this is.
Awww! What a lovely ready this was!
Ha ha. I always love what you do with the word “tanka,” as well as how creative you get WITH your tanka. 🙂
helium (of course) = hell, I, um
And her momma gave it to her. She gave her hell. She made her stutter. She made her feel inadequate and off balance and floaty … in a bad way.
OR, it could go the other way. Her momma gave her everything she needed to lift up and take off, but now responsibilities have grounded her … and she sure doesn’t like it. 😦
Love this
Well, she is impressive not to have had a tantrum, as mine always did. They never quite believed that it would float away until it really and truly did.
Reminiscing to when life was a whole lot simpler, I’m sure.
True story. When I was little, I liked to let the balloon go, and watch until I couldn’t see it anymore. My mama finally figured out I got just as much joy, if not more, than carrying the thing around all day.
Love. I’ve been thinking so much lately about how that little girl lives in us still. When mine showed up recently, I realized how much i missed her. Hope she sticks around.
This is beautifully sad
…and giggled up up to the clouds:) I can see it!! I had a little girl who ‘wailed it up to the clouds;-)
…and then the way you brought Then to now is the surprise! Superb as always.
Wonderful execution filled with delightful emotion. Well done!