Who’s the Tether, Who’s the Balloon?

My dad was straight forward, a doctor, a tether
He worried about everything, including the weather
He was grounded in science and thought less about the arts
He knew about medicine and all of its distinctive parts
My mom, a balloon, loose and up high
Floating above in her bright blue sky
Knew she needed a tether to keep her down to earth
She often was full of joy and full of mirth
So, dad and mom reached an agreement soon
That dad was the tether and mom the balloon...

Jennifer Kagan is an associate professor of literacy at Oswego State University and has been on the faculty there since 2001. She decided to write poetry when COVID began and wrote a poem a day for many months to her fan base of forty email pals. She lives in Ithaca, NY with her husband, Peter, and loves to walk, play tennis, and make glass objects at The Corning Museum of Glass.