The balloons

I carried them in a large, brown sack,

but the more I walked with them, the heavier they got, 

weighing down on my back, dragging my feet into the dirt,

The pain cut through me like glass, until one day I could no longer walk.

A girl found me and offered me her hand,

I'll take some, she said, hoisting them onto her own shoulders

and as we walked together, the pain wasn't so bad.

As the days went on, she gave me some to her own to carry, 

I took them, glad to help, but the bag became too heavy again,

and soon we were both struggling to walk.

Then one day, I stopped, and I threw my bag to the floor,

I opened it up and I pulled the worries from its depths,

and quickly placed them into several balloons,

sealing each one before my worries could escape,

and then...I let go.

And I watched as they sailed far away.