Happy 2nd anniversary!!!

BALLOONS Lit. Journal was first established in November 2014. This young magazine turns two this month with four lovely and moving issues produced so far. While we received blessings from all over the world, the following texts (together with this cute drawing from Marco Chan, a secondary 1 student from Hong Kong) are particularly thoughtful and thus I'd like to share them with you here:

“Happy 2nd Anniversary to Balloons Lit Journal! Thanks for a magazine that is both an intellectual and visual delight! May you continue to inspire young readers and writers for many years to come.”
— Jacqueline Jules, author, poet, librarian, Arlington, Virginia


“Alles Gute zum zweiten Geburtstag, BLJ!”
— Rebecca Linam, teacher, Alabama, USA. (That's "All the best for your second birthday" in German, the subject I teach.)


“Happy Big 2! Thank you, thank you, thank you for existing. World's a better place for it, and it's been waiting for you.
And great wonder is ahead...”

Waiting

Everywhere there’s a poem
already written
waiting to be read.
That goose has sat there
in all kinds of weather
upon her eggs.

— Joe Bisicchia, Public Affairs Professional, Marlton, NJ


BLJ 2nd Anniversary
​
I soared into the starry night sky
Clutching onto a balloon
Reaching eagerly for fluffy clouds 
Touching the glimmering moon
Travelling across the vast universe
With just a book in my hand
Adventuring in pages of words, through
Glamorous kingdoms and lands
Two years have passed in a blink of an eye
Since the journal's publishing
Each issue brings us to a whole new world
Fun and exhilarating
Frederick Douglass said "Once you learn to read, 
you will be forever free."
I grinned widely at the balloons engrained
Continuing journeys in glee
​
— Ting-hei Au (Oscar), student (Secondary 1), Hong Kong