Last night on 77th I waited
To watch the Macy mammoths get inflated
And listen to the blear-eyed children cheer
As Kermit’s leg or Snoopy’s limp left ear
Came out of their collapse as gas was blown
Through each sagged limb, now magically regrown.

Each mammoth stirs beneath its weighted net
Straining for the sky it can’t have yet,
Impatient to be loosed out of the dark
Over the browning trees of Central Park.

From yesterday I still can feel you blow
Your love all through me like some helium
That restores my true proportions, head to toe,
And lifts my body skywards. When I come
I’m out of the sandbagged nets and soar away
Into release and my Thanksgiving Day.