Sunday, December 16, 2007

Clouds

[Weekend Wordsmith prompted us to write about Clouds this week.]


clouds

sometimes a cloud is just a cloud,
white against a bright blue sky, maybe stretched so thin you can
see right through it, or maybe piled onto itself in a fat bunch that dares you
to discover the elephant at the dinner table or the turtle on a surfboard.

but sometimes a cloud is an omen,
dark against a steel-grey sky as the wind picks up,
pouring the darkness across the world, in preparation for the sky to turn
yellow, then green as the temperature drops and small raindrops fuse
into each other becoming painful pellets that don't hurt as much
as the hailstones that follow, stripping leaves from trees and
denting the cars and our potted cactus.




4 comments:

Sherry said...

I like this very much...I love clouds, dreaming of what they mean, where they have come, where they are going. Beautiful.

paisley said...

i have only ever really experienced one true hailstorm.. that is an amazing piece of weather to be sure!!! excellent write.....

Maria said...

Niiiiiice. I like that image very much. Those are some of my favorite clouds. Wonderful imagery. The beginning is whimsical and lulls your reader into a sense of carefree, don't take yourself too seriously fun, then you head into the omen, "dark against a steel-grey sky." Powerful turn. Thanks for a good read.

Maria

sister AE said...

Hi, Sherry. Thanks.

Hello, Paisley. Thanks. I encountered many hailstorms when I was growing up in the Midwest - the worst one damaged cars in driveways and sales lots in 3 counties, and left about a foot of green leaves from nearby trees in the bottom of our pool.

Welcome, Maria-in-Kentucky (I have another Maria who visits here), and thanks.