Picked up and carried by the wind
Soaring above the crowd
Surrounded on all sides by an ocean of color
As the world below gets further and further away
 
The little girl below me
Holds the spool of string 
Tethers me to the earth
Looking above her in wonder and awe

She shrieks with joy
Running up the hill to get a better view
I trail happily behind her
Reaching higher and higher still

Hundreds of faces scattered around the park
Young, old, and everywhere in between 
For some the novelty is gone
But they all have the same glimmer in their eye

A old woman sits on a bench nearby
Smiling at the sight around her
While a couple keep their fingers intertwined
Refusing to lose each other in the wind

The girl’s parents come to get her
The sun has nearly set
It is time to go home now
She lets go

When she realizes what happened
She runs to keep up
Jumping to the sky
She grasps at nothing but air 

I drift over the clouds 
And past the sea
To the end of the earth
There is nobody left to hold me
And nothing left to hold
I let go