Why?

Above the parade…

I watched the string of a red balloon
trail behind so high…

A woman tossing flowers to the procession.

A bulbous clown waving at the crowd.

The pageantry joined by a couple in powdered wigs and finery,
like history’s Antoinette with Louis XVI.

A wide-eyed Vogue model woofing down a hotdog,
her poodle obediently panting.

The honking cross-town-impatience
waiting for the traffic cop’s permission to go.

The smiling vendor giving the child another balloon,
as floating away high above,
the red balloon plays the escape game
with a pigeon’s beak.

Such a day of living.

Why?
Why must we die?