Photo Prayer 2020-05 -- Trashed Balloons
At the party we were alight with joy. “Thank you! Thank you!” we said. We said we’d remember the moment always and, having experienced such generosity from you, we promised generosity in return, to give ourselves to the world just as you had given yourself to us. But now the party’s over and the balloons are in the trash. We are no longer carried forward on waves of delight. Now is the past tense of joy, one foot, one day at a time. We are no longer giddy but are something that may be better, something steady. There’s a flame that endures even after the candles are blown out.
Photo of balloons in the trash on a Sunday morning, Wilmington, Delaware.
Photo and text copyright 2020 by Danny N. Schweers.
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Comments
Bill wrote:
Great line! “There’s a flame that endures even after the candles are blown out.” Worthy of Leonard Cohen. The photo has a nice composition of line and color as well. Thanks.
Ernestine wrote:
Beautiful
Hugh wrote:
Great image!
Holly wrote:
Ack!!! You should have shredded them! [the balloons]
Martha wrote:
Danny, this is timely & true ... we need an enduring flame to resist ill winds!
Laura wrote:
This is great, I really like this photo -- and caption -- a lot! One of my favorites!
Carolyn wrote:
So love what you post! And miss you [at the Washington Printmakers Gallery in D.C.]!
Elizabeth wrote:
I love the image of the “enduring flame.” That’s what we pray for when we preach. [Note: Elizabeth is an Episcopal priest, someone who knows about preaching and inspiration.]
THE AUTHOR REPLIED:
In writing the prayer, I knew I wanted to talk about trashed balloons, about the party being over. Two days later I came across more abandoned balloons, only one actually, by itself blowing across a parking lot. I took it as a second sign that I needed to pay attention to the idea of the party being over, a dismal thought until my wandering thoughts led me to the idea of something better, the enduring flame.