Tale of a Red Balloon

Куприянов Вячеслав
Tale of a Red Balloon

Once we possessed a red balloon
We filled it up with smoke
Forgetting, what we'd learn too soon:
A red balloon's no joke!

It slipped our grasp and struggled free
Then headed for the sky
But got snagged in a maple tree
The tallest one nearby

We shook the tree to knock it down
And soon our hands were raw
Until some genius went to town
And brought us back a saw.

We sawed that tree for half the day
Expecting it to fall
But red balloons do not obey:
It shot up tree and all

Up through the clouds we watched it go
Defying Newton's law
While we, abandoned, stood below
Still clutching that fool saw

translated
by Lydia Stone