The Yellow Balloon
On Rosh Hashanah morn
in the middle of prayer
my eyes drifted upward and beheld
a yellow balloon
attached to the ceiling of the hall,
a remnant of past festivities,
now somewhat limp and wrinkled.
A fitting metaphor, I thought,
for thus are we in the Days of Awe—
Deflated of importance
and held to heaven by a slender string.
Keith Tornheim, September 23, 2006