Winter Clouds

Winter Clouds
When skies are uniformly grey
and drizzle dampens every walk,
my soul shrinks down, half-turned away,
lets inner colour smudge like chalk.

If clouds and sun dance on the heights,
then grey takes form in subtle hues,
and white has brightness that delights,
while gaps of sky show bluest blue.

Then cast-down eyes are drawn to lift.
Majestic mountain peaks of cloud
appear, and then like magic shift
as sunlight rips the dimming shroud.

I gaze and words begin to form
as brightness splashes like a wave.
Though cloud parade might turn to storm,
each lightning flash excites the brave.

I’d rather downpour than those fogs
that hem me round and dull my sight.
Let flooding shift the clogging logs
so stream runs strong and glitters bright.
	Barbara Messner 9/06/23