An Ode to .. King Luxon

Orient Express
Hot air balloon Number One
Is prepared by the Royal Hot Air Balloon Force
For Prime Balloonist, King Luxon,
And his trade delegation to the Orient.
But lo! With a splutter and a puff
Hot air balloon Number One folds in on itself
And deflates onto the field.
King Luxon sighs and books a ticket
On a commercial hot air balloon flight.
The clouds float past beneath him
As he regales the attendants
With stories of how he used to run
The national hot air balloon company in his youth.
The King finally arrives in the Orient
With his trade delegation,
Which includes no B-graders whatsoever.
The Royal Party is given a tour of economic opportunities.
King Luxon stares at a large pile of rust.
“And what is this?” He asks curiously.
“This is a hundred thousand tonnes
Of scrap metal for the ferry that you owe us for,”
Says the translator in perfect English.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand Oriental,”
Says King Luxon with a confused smile.
The King strolls down the Demarcation Line
Between the rows of bristling artillery
Pointing back and forth between North and South.
A flotilla of hostile hot air balloons sails overhead
And dump a large quantity of household refuse
On the King and his Trade Delegation.
The King watches the Balloons of the North
From under the cabbage leaves balanced on his head.
“Do you think we might get a trade deal with them
To help us fix Number One?”,
Asks Prime Balloonist, King Luxon.