Balloon Dreams, by ​Lindsey Thäden

Surf, North Africa, by e.e. cummings (USA). 1933.

Balloon Dreams

We tied aortas to Chinese lanterns, children
crunching leaves, waves crashing secrets.
Standing each in sight of the other, the sky
sucked a firefly into . yesterday . Marine
biologists met in San Diego to discuss the
meaning of your hands. They touched on
your lips, before a debate on the evolutionary
advantage of the common periwinkle
as five MIT grads met to decode a newly
discovered ancient hieroglyph. Palm trees
clapped, waves over whistle. Your heart in
a conk shell tumbled, whorl and spire
over lip.
​

Lindsey Thäden
 
​Lindsey Thäden is the winner of the 2018 Luminaire Award for Best Poetry for her poem, "Waking to Pablo Neruda Pumping My Chest." Alternating Current Press called the poem "a jolting, refreshing read." Thäden also won the City of New York's 2016 #PoetweetNYC contest. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in the Philadelphia-based Apeiron Review, The Coil, New York Metro, and Passages North. She is also a regular poet contributor at Vending Machine Press and The Ekphrastic Review.