We thank the clouds
that come and go and sometimes
linger

We thank the cumuli
for the brooding
that arrests our busyness

our preoccupations
We thank the storm clouds
for our passions and the lightning

that splits the dead stumps
our hearts had become,
opens them to the rain

We thank the quills of cirrus
for the elegant thoughts of earlier poets
and for the high abstractions

of mathematics and philosophy—
our tightrope walk over
the abyss

The mists we thank
for hiding moments of our past
(how could we otherwise go on?)

and for the absentmindedness
that leads us to unexpected places
We thank the procession of cloud-lanterns

that embrace the last light
of shrinking days
We thank the elusive vapours

for reminding us
that every thing conceals a face
and the world in large part is what we imagine

And how can we complain
about those endless drizzling days
when they lend us dreams and the earth,

compose our poems, incite us
to read a recommended book
forgotten on a dusty shelf?

We thank the clouds
that come and go and sometimes
linger

©Luke Fischer

‘We thank the clouds’ was first published in Luke’s Fischer’s book of poems Paths of Flight.

The author’s book of poems Paths of Flight can be purchased directly through the Black Pepper website (postage is free): http://blackpepperpublishing.com/fischerpof.html

Photograph by ©David Macauley