BEASTLY TALES - THE BALLOONIST
Welcome to Beastly Tales. Each has a message, a moral. All are meant to have an element of humour. Naturally, any names included do not depict real folk but are included as part of the joke.
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(As with Beastly Banter Beastly Tales is written and illustrated by Richard Hersel.)
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Richard Hersel
BEASTLY TALES
THE BALLOONIST
In the early days of air travel,
Some astonishing tales did unravel.
A story of a Zeppelin gave shock,
And all around the globe it did rock,
That one, in America, did explode,
Near it’s mooring, at the end of the road,
After a smooth crossing of the Atlantic,
A comfortable crossing, not at all frantic.
In those days, such balloons they did fill,
With hydrogen, yes that was the drill.
But hydrogen is highly flammable now,
Known to explode and singe eyebrow.
And that, unfortunately, did happen when,
The Hindenburg reached it’s mooring pen.
A terrible conflagration occurred.
The hearts of many deeply stirred.
Everyone understandably making a fuss,
Over the fate of this airship omnibus.
Early aviators went up in hot air balloons,
Much safer provided they weren’t flown by hoons.
But safety, we must confess,
Didn’t follow through to their dress.
They, perhaps, thought it quite uncute,
To have to wear a parachute.
So if the balloon fabric caught on fire,
They were instantly in a situation dire.
One aviator was Algernon Clune,
Who manufactured his own hot air balloon.
He had a basket to carry just four,
(It would take two trips to carry more).
One summer’s day he did take off,
His passengers were a Tart and a Toff.
It was idyllic, no fear of rain,
They even brought some cold champagne.
Take-off was an affair to applaud,
Airmanship at a pinnacle to laud,
And soon they were up, so very high,
Sailing gaily, right up in the sky.
All went well until the gas ran out,
And then the Toff gave a great shout,
“We’re going to crash, can’t you tell?”
And then the Tart, too, began to yell.
Our intrepid aviator Algernon,
Looked back along the course they had gone.
“We’re over a very nice flat field”.
“And so as our altitude we do yield”,
“We’ll gently descend this very day”,
“To fly again, safely, to be on our way”.
The Toff sang out, “Hip Hip, Hooray!”
The Tart said, “You’ve forgot to pay”,
“For my company, and it’s not cheap!”
The Toff thought the rate rather steep.
Well, soon they were down on the ground,
Celebrating their friendship, quite new-found.
Is there anything to learn from such a strange tale?
Well, perhaps there is, if you do not fail,
To take note of romance high up in the sky,
Cemented more firmly when they thought they might die.
For her beauty it was that attracted the Toff,
While his title and money attracted the Tart!
I really like the various works of poetry and photos let me Resteem your best poems and photos.
love is a risk and more risky when done on the air..nice art/ poem.
Love in the sky, romance in the air..nice post
Thanks.
Great post. Love your poems.
Yeah me too. Let's keep a date with him then.
I go lost while reading, so i read twice but this poem i am yet to digest. i think its all about flying a balloon but haven't get the spark to smile like i do while reading your other poems.
Funny post indeed
nice poem as usual @beastlybanter. keep making us laugh at your humors.
funny one at it
Thank you.
Like always great job <3
You are so good with words, do you study literature?. I always find your poetry interesting and motivating and also the picture always matched the title of the poem well. Waiting for your response
Thank you. No I don't study literature, I just love reading.
Luky them.....They're still in one piece; thanks for sharing
Each one of your poems subject matter is so different, which I love. The balloonist is the perfect example of that. The artwork looks amazing too, the basket looks so real.
Thank you.