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Monday 1 April 2019

Poetry Monday: Clouds

Hi folks, it's Poetry Monday, and this week's topic is . . . CLOUDS.

Join Delores and me (and now a few regular contributors in the comments -- yay!) in pouring out our thoughts about those fluffy/puffy/wispy/massive/white/gray products of nature that hover above our heads occasionally or frequently, depending on where you live and what time of year it is.

You can leave your poem in the comments or post on your own blog; if you do the latter, please let us know in the comments so we can come along and read your offering.

*****

The first thing that always comes to my mind when I think of clouds is Joni Mitchell's iconic song "Both Sides Now" from her album "Clouds", with its evocative and haunting lyrics and melody. How can you know this song and not think of it when clouds are mentioned?

But as beautiful as those lyrics are (and they are certainly a poem, too, if anything ever was), I have to find my own perspective, and that's what Poetry Monday is for.

Looking for inspiration, I searched through some of the cloud pictures I've taken in the three years since I began blogging.


Early morning clouds with a jet contrail rising vertically through them

 

 

Early evening clouds rolling in next to our local Walmart



Banks of clouds making the windmills look tiny

 

 

Storm clouds blocking all but a smidgen of blue sky

 

 

A sky/cloud sandwich



So many of our days have complete cloud cover, like this . . .

 

 

. . . and others have no clouds at all, like this (hah! a non-cloud picture in a post about clouds!) . . .



 . . . but sometimes there's something completely different, like this . . .

 


. . . or this . . .

 

 

. . . or this . . .

 

 

. . . or even this, the remnants of a storm cloud, which cast an eerie glow all around.




And after pondering all those variations of clouds, here's how my poem turned out.



Clouds

For something that few, if any, people have ever touched,
Clouds get a lot of attention from the human race.
They bring us weather -- good, bad, and in-between,
And when it rains or snows, it does it in our face.
And so, we grown-ups look with watchful eyes at clouds;
And, with our plans in mind, wish for sun instead,
Unlike the young, who revel in the here-and-now,
And wish for rain, to splash; or snow, to sled.
 
*****


If you were to write a poem, a story, a paragraph, a sentence, or even a phrase about clouds, what would you say?

Wishing you the kind of week you wish for yourself, my friends.



Next week's topic will be . . . LACE . . .have fun :)




48 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

I hope and trust I am never so old and jaded that I give up cloud watching. Whatever the season.

dinthebeast said...

OK, I have a couple of motorcycle stories about clouds, but I'll go with this one instead, as it inspired me to write a short story about it many years ago:
There is a place near Fieldbrook, California, where the foothills give way to the forested flatland between them and the ocean, where you can (or at least could) hike down from the road that crosses the end of the ridge and climb up the back of an enormous rock outcropping that kind of punctuates that part of the foothills.
The trail up the back rises maybe 100 feet from the forest floor, putting the top of the rock just above the level of the trees, and isn't a hard climb.
The front of the rock, however, drops much farther, to the very base of the ridge. The top isn't really level, but the slope isn't hard to navigate.
The views are spectacular in clear weather, but that's not what makes it a popular spot.
It's very foggy in that area, and the coastal fog usually "burns off" of the hills as the morning warms up, and on a good day, is gone before noon.
So if you climb up in the foggy morning, you can witness the fog clear above you before it clears below and for a few minutes you are standing on a rocky island protruding from a moving river of cloud which runs down out of the foothills and dissipates into the wind that blows in from the Pacific.
You don't want to be there then if you have a problem with vertigo, because even without it you'll need to sit down to maintain your equilibrium the first time.
The effect is rather like looking off of the stern of a moving ship, I am told, though I have never been on a ship.

I like your poem, but when I was a kid, clouds meant rain, and rain meant no motorcycle riding, so I didn't like them all that much.

-Doug in Oakland

River said...

I love your cloud photos. The poem is good too.

baili said...

thank you sooooooooooo much for such stunning images of clouds dear Jenny!

Looking at them is pure delight and thrill :)

a wonderful poem indeed!!!

you said it all so beautifully :)

Ah i can write pages about clouds as i love them

back in village when i was little girl walking on hills towards school ,many times i stop and stared and piece of huge cloud ,waited it to come up right over my head and felt like i achieved something ,like i kissed the cloud .and walked under it's shade quickly so i can keep in touch with it lol

here in this small dry city they are most desired thing for me
when i ind a little piece of cloud it takes me into dream world of my childhood village life :)

thank you for amazing blogging my dear friend!
hugs!

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

Clouds are fascinating. Your poem is good and the photos amazing.
I remember as a little girl on holiday driving over the mountains we drove up, up up ... and into the clouds. I bade my fatehr stop, so that we could get out and actually walk in a cloud. He did. Imagine my disappointment. A cloud feels just like a very dense fog. Not soft, downy or anything. Just wet :(
Thanks for hosting.

Red said...

When my kids were little I sometimes had them look at clouds to find shapes of things like a face or a car... I learned this when I hitch hiked and a couple with two little kids picked me up. Their kids played this for the 100 miles I road with them.

Joanne Noragon said...

Great pictures!

37paddington said...

Your poem takes me right back to childhood, lying in the grass, picking out shapes in the clouds. Your photos are beautiful, especially the pink sky.

Steve Reed said...

That photo of the immense, flat-topped cloud is really striking. What an interesting formation. A lot of our clouds are like your grey skies -- thick and impenetrable and featureless!

Marie Smith said...

I love how you brought youth into the cloud poem. They revel in whatever the clouds bring!

jono said...

I love clouds and looking up. I tend to get a stiff neck a lot. It probably wouldn't surprise you to know that I bought Joni's album when it came out and I still have it. She is the only "celebrity" to whom I ever wrote a fan letter. I never heard back and my heart was broken, yet I continue to love her to this day.
Even when flying between them they look warm, soft, and inviting, like your grandmother's lap when you are a small child.

Susan Kane said...

That cloud that makes me think of a mushroom. Oh.

only slightly confused said...

Beautiful cloud photos...and another great peom from the donkey. Right now, out our window, he clouds appear to be tangled in the tree tops. Lace huh? Hmmm.

jenny_o said...

Indeed, EC. There's always something new to see.

It's good to have you back!

jenny_o said...

What a fantastic description, Doug - sounds like a beautiful sight. Does anyone ever overstep the edge and fall? I hope not.

I understand your dislike for clouds as a kid :)

jenny_o said...

Thanks, River. I hope your arthritis flare tames down soon.

jenny_o said...

That is a beautiful memory from your childhood, baili. Thank you for your kind words. Hugs back to you!

jenny_o said...

How cool - you are one of the few who has touched a cloud! Too bad it didn't live up to your expectations, but still - very cool :)

Note to readers: Uglemor's poem is here: (copy/paste in your browser)

http://krydderuglen.blogspot.com/2019/04/poetry-monday-clouds.html

It is of special interest to gardeners of any kind.

jenny_o said...

That's a great road game! And smart of you to remember it when your kids were little.

jenny_o said...

Thank you, Joanne. I seem to take a lot of shots of the sky :)

jenny_o said...

Thanks, Angella - can you believe I never did that as a child? My eyes were usually glued to my book :)

jenny_o said...

That flat-topped cloud reminded my husband of a nuclear mushroom cloud, and after he said it, that's what I thought too.

jenny_o said...

Do they ever! We probably did when we were kids, too, Marie. I can remember loving the rain, making little ditches from one puddle to another that would fill like tiny rivers. It's one of my favourite childhood memories :)

jenny_o said...

Oh, yes - looking up! I'm always doing that and wondering how weird people must think I am. Then I shrug. Their loss :D

Shame on Joni for not answering your letter! Nice of you to still love her :)

jenny_o said...

Yes, exactly! And sort of like the mushroom clouds caused by atomic bombs, which is more sobering. But this was purely a regular cloud :)

jenny_o said...

Thanks, Delores. I hope "lace" isn't too much of a workout! lol

Anonymous said...

Great photos, and I especially like the anvil shaped cloud.

jenny_o said...

"Anvil-shaped" - now that's a good description of it!

dinthebeast said...

Not that I ever heard about, but I have been gone from that area for 35 years, so I don't really know any more.
I did hear a story once about a couple who smoked a joint up there and were afraid to come back down for a few hours...

-Doug in Oakland

jenny_o said...

I can imagine :)

Martha said...

That was lovely! And the photos are beautiful. I hope I never stop being in awe of clouds.

e said...

Lovely, thought-provoking photos, and poem. Have a good week Jenny!

kylie said...

I should do more sky watching!

Cloud & sky sandwich was a geat term. I liked the creativity of it

messymimi said...

That was beautiful! You are right, we grown-ups need to remember how to enjoy things, especially clouds.

My poem is here, and i'm sorry it took me so long to link up.

jenny_o said...

Thanks, Martha - and me, too.

jenny_o said...

Thanks, e - I hope you're feeling better this week.

jenny_o said...

Sky watching - definitely safer than sky diving, so go to it, kylie! lol Thanks for reading :)

jenny_o said...

That link doesn't work, Mimi, so I'm going to put the working link info here: (copy/past in browser)
https://messymimismeanderings.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-to-z-awww-monday-jake-waits-inspiring.html

Thanks for contributing, Mimi!

John M said...

I love clouds.

jenny_o said...

There's so much variety - so much to love!

Diane Henders said...

I like your poem! :-) I love all kinds of clouds EXCEPT the ones that cover the whole sky with solid featureless grey. I hate it when they just hang there being dull, blocking the sun without raining or snowing or doing anything useful or interesting. Just like humorless old curmudgeons, they're not having any fun up there, and they won't let me have fun, either. So there you go:
My cloud-related phrase is "curmudgeon clouds". ;-)

jenny_o said...

Oh, good one! Everyone who doesn't like those solid gray days now has a way to address them!

Although I have to say I personally don't mind gray days because they're easier on my eyes. Even with heavy-duty sunglasses, I find the sun too strong; it leaves my eyes dry and scratchy. So maybe those clouds have a purpose after all - to keep my poor eyes comfortable (it's all about ME ME ME) lol

Diane Henders said...

Well, that makes me feel happier about gray days! I'm glad they're good for something. :-)

jenny_o said...

Thanks for your selflessness in the face of my self-centredness :D

Mildred Ratched said...

Oh! What a lovely idea. Can anyone join in? I love writing/creating poetry, but alas I'm not very good at it. I know! I know! Practice makes perfect or so they say!

jenny_o said...

Yes, everyone can join in! You can leave your poem (or a link to your blog) in the comments here or at Delores' blog, located here:
http://mutedmumblings.blogspot.com/

Poetry Monday was started by Diane, located here:
https://dlt-lifeontheranch.blogspot.com/
but she's been busy the last few months and hasn't been taking part. But we expect her back in action soon, and when that happens, I'll mention it in the preamble at the beginning of each Poetry Monday post, with a link, and you can post your poem (or a link to your blog) there instead, if you wish.

We'd love to have new people join in - it's just for fun, and to encourage people to write, so give it a try!

Mr. Shife said...

I liked your photos and your poem about clouds but I would be OK if I didn't see any for a few days. We are in the middle of April showers here and the forecast is nothing but clouds with rain. Yuck.

jenny_o said...

Yeah, it's hard to find something to do with kiddos when it's raining all weekend . . . maybe a movie? indoor balloon volleyball?

I hope the sun shines at least a little for you all.