I saw the balloons floating away
And the wine was flat.
The birthday hats were trampled
And the streamers clustered
In a meagre, dusty pile.
Mourning channelled in us lost,
Eroding us like castles made of sand,
We tumbled together in clouds of remorse.
As reality gripped us we tattered at the edges,
Fluttering to our own respective empty spaces.
With only the rosebuds remaining
We witness the final petal drop.
Picked up by the breeze
It joins the balloons in forever.

Harold Pinter, British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor, was born on this day in 1930.

Orson Welles, American actor, director, writer and producer, died today in 1985.