Richard Shindell Follow

I'm standing outside on the balcony
Balloon man is passing below
Making his way to the park by the church
He goes where the little ones go

Balloon man's a little bit ragged
His glasses are slightly askew
One lens is cracked and shoes never match
He might have a screw loose or two

And you're so far away
On the other side of the world
I thought you might like to know
That balloon man lives in it too

His rig is a marvel of equipoise
Leonardo might've designed
Bamboo for the wide horizontal
Pine for the vertical rise

He's wearing in a flag-bearers harness
He's holding the whole thing aloft
Balloons all arrayed, he's a one man parade
If he ran he'd surely take off

And you're so far away
On the other side of the world
I just thought you should know
That balloon man lives in it too

But it's cold up here on the balcony
And it's time that I went back inside
Balloon man waits for the light at the corner
I'll watch til he goes out of sight

But there's a wind that whips round the corner
And he's having a hell of a time
He staggers and it looks like he might just go over
But balloon man he puts up a fight

And you're so far away
On the other side of the world
I just thought you should know
That balloon man lives in it too