It's days like these
I want to tie myself with strings
to red balloons and float away on a windy day
and like Icarus
fly too close to the sun

outside my window            
a sunny yellow
checker cab
honks backfires and belches
a bouquet of acrid smoke

it almost
blots out the sun
and turns the sky
many shades
of charcoal gray

but I'll keep wishing praying
that a gust of wind
will pick me up
and like a red balloon I'll float away
somewhere tropical and sunny

© Whit Howland 2019