one by one I lost them all
I had them all to myself
but then I lost them
a half-dozen helium-filled balloons
each a different color
I had plucked one by one
from the giving tree
in the city square
and I as I stood there
looking upward
counting them
with my index finger
a tear lost for each one
drifting higher & higher
until I became alone again
december two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
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