Emily once believed
  That all DJs are balloons.
She loved to hear their voices
  In between the latest tunes.

She imagined their wide smiles
  Drawn in marker or with paint.
Slowly seeping air to speak
  Until they're feeling faint.

Some of them make sounds
  By releasing all their air
Into bassoons or saxophones.
  They slowly disappear.

But then she met a DJ who
  Had pierced his nose and eyebrow.
She stared in disbelief.
  She couldn't figure out how

His head was yet to burst,
  Or gradually deflate.
His head's delayed explosion
  Was ridiculously late.

He lacked a fixed expression,
  A never-changing style.
He could show surprise and puzzlement,
  And frown as well as smile.

Many facial muscles
  Were involved in every word.
She stared in admiration,
  Ignoring what she heard.

She loved his face's sparkle,
  And its ever-moving blur.
He loved her deep attention
  Every time he spoke to her.

One night he slept soundly
  After dinner, tea and port.
He dreamt about a goldfish
  Who was swimming back and forth.

On the following morning
  As he lay awake in bed
He imagined that the goldfish
  Was still swimming in his head.

He pictured his bowl head
  While staring into space.
There was just a vacant smile
  And no movement on his face.

He was happy just to see
  His mental goldfish swim,
And to feel his own head
  Full of water to the brim.

He also had two real fish,
  And when they saw him stare
They just assumed he'd died.
  They didn't really care.

Emily lost interest
  When she saw his latest look.
His face had reached the end
  Of its thrilling action book.

But things returned to normal
  When his friend became a bride.
He said he wouldn't do it
  But in floods of tears he cried.

He felt the water drain
  From the inside of his head.
And he couldn't help but notice
  That his mental fish was dead.

He was back to his old self.
  He could move his face again
For Emily to gaze at
  In a warm and vacant grin.