Up against the glass.

I feel their pane

And wipe their tears.

The free air touches cold

All along the frame,

Looks in again

And sees the smears.

Now browning leaves stick tight

Down across the sill.

I can explain,

Just calm your fears!

I pay to keep them in,

D'you realise?

It starts to rain

And no-one hears.

The balloon

  to the maninthemoon?

I want to take a balloon,

she said, the girl with stars

in her mind. I said, You live

in clouds. We'll take some cars

just to illustrate speed,

and we'll take him some poor,

to exemplify need;

we'll probably take more

gold than he's ever seen

(we'll have to show him the Queen!);

all humanity's best,

the rich and all the rest,

just to say that they've been.

What about my balloon?

  she said, the girl with stars;

  I said, No room on the Moon

  for that. Take it to Mars.

With a star in her eye

  she let the string fly, said

  You shan't have it today;

  we gazed up at the sky,

  where, just in view, overhead,

  the Moon floated further away.

Spectacle

And Johnny was gone.

Glasses and all.

Johnny was tall

For his age:

One of the boys.

One of his ploys

Was to walk by the pool

With his hands on his head,

Balancing high,

Playing the fool,

Playing the clown

As the kids marched to school.

Along the stone wall,

He was,

Balancing high he was,

Look at me, boys.

Playing the fool,

Playing the clown

Along the stone wall.

And Johnny fell down.

What a fall

It was, too.

Glasses and all.