“The Life of Clouds” by Lynne Knight

After Eric Sloane’s Cloud Mural

Eric Sloane, Cloud Mural, n.d., oil on board

The clouds rush by, voluminous, storm dark.
He knew from studying cosmology
that gravity would press, distort, and mark
their inescapable collapse. Easy
to grasp some things, he said, but with the cloud
you realize just what you’re up against
when trying to explain it. You’re allowed
to simplify, say water has condensed
to decorate the sky, to ease the dread
we feel when seeing time go by. The truth
seems closer to complexity: instead
of anguish over how we squandered youth,
the clouds bring solace: No need for regret.
You’re not like clouds. You haven’t vanished yet.

Lynne Knight has published six chapbooks and six full-length poetry collections, most recently The Language of Forgetting (Sixteen Rivers Press). Her poems have appeared in many journals; among her awards are a RATTLE Poetry Prize and a National Endowment of the Arts fellowship. She lives on Vancouver Island.

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