Light and Dark in Feld's After Johnny Carson's Final Appearance

     While truth is usually portrayed as the light and deceit and falsehoods a shadowy and illusive dark, it is just the opposite in this poem by Andrew Feld.
     With the opening stanza, Feld uses Johnny Carson to set up the paradoxical nature of two views of America and it's people; while eagle on the back of the dollar bill represents the light of democracy brought to the new world, Carson saw the dark and shameful origins of this nation.
     In stanzas two and, Feld applies the concept of all light containing darkness to human social interaction. He portrays our spoken words as the light, making a pun on light conversation ("barbed quips, banter, innuendo, mock seriousness. Jokes.") And while the light is a tool to build relationships with the people around him (I gave it to you, my guests,/so we could build between us), it is ultimately built on falsehoods.It also comes at a cost; to uphold the image he presents to others, he must smother and ultimately kill his innermost thoughts, eventually killing himself in a way. Much in the same way, when we propagate the romanticized version of the story of America's rise to the status of superpower, we ignore those who were trampled in it's founding. By forgetting the lives lost, we are essentially guilty of killing them a second time.
     To contrast with this, Feld then goes on to show us the darkness of human beings. For Feld, it is a "dark canyon", where he looks critically at the ambitions he holds within himself, and the reality of his position in society and his ability. While this is not as attractive as the light conversation, it is the gritty reality. This connects back to the two visions of America, humanizing the issue of a country with a very troubled past.
     Feld's finally analogy is that of his inner child which, when faced with the scrutiny of age and experience, is forced to disappear. This can be seen as a metaphor for accepting the faults within oneself and moving on. However, in Feld's judgement, America is simply not ready to be dragged into adulthood. Without America's silver balloon (the romanticized and fictionalized history), it is nothing more than a self-pitying child. So in the end, the speaker returns the balloon, closing with a warning to never lose it. Or, in another way of viewing it, to not repeat the sins of it's murky and dark past.