Robert Verdon, #305, Clouds

clouds remind me of

Aristophanes, Shelley, Joni Mitchell,

and William Carlos Williams —

they shade us and keep us warm

they are cheap real estate for sky-moated castles

they prompt us to think

of things and people who don’t always care for us

they bring rain and snow and hail

and come in more varieties than sushi

which some resemble

if you are nice-hungry as a cat

they are sometimes low and mean

sometimes high and wild

they make me dizzy looking up

tell me I am not much bigger than when I was four

tell me I am not much bigger than when I was forty

spring fog at night

is the best cloud

I can drive right through it,

melting away all that is solid

like a guardian angel