Sue Shaw, Member 55,742, is enjoying her membership of the Cloud Appreciation Society.  She told us she’s been travelling  lately and watching a lot of lumpy clouds and finding shapes and faces almost endlessly.  It inspired her to write the two poems below.  She says  they are “similar, but different— and are products of that shape finding”

Image:  A Cumulus elephant spotted over Geelong, Victoria, Australia spotted by Heather Prince

Clouds Change and Rearrange!

It can take a cloud but seconds
To change its shape or place…
To re-form from a castle
To a dragon or a face!

Why…with a lot of lumpy clouds
You can read a fairy tale.
By looking all across the sky
In a zig-zag sort of trail.

There’s a princess in a lovely gown
And the castle…her abode…
The alligator in the moat
The prince…but as a toad!

There’s a puppy and a kitten
And a flying bird or two…
A monster and a gremlin…
All in shades of white on blue!

You can create a story line
By reading what is there,
With just imagination
And ice crystals in the air!

To play ‘pretend’ is so much fun
With daydreams in your mind
When you relax and watch the clouds…
But be careful, for you’ll find

That if you wait, your cast will change,
And the players that you’ve got…
Will all drift off and fade away…
And you’ll need a brand new plot!

Faces?

There are faces in the clouds–
Monsters wrapped in stormy shrouds…
Or a laughing, pug nosed leprechaun,
Or someone with a top hat on!

An alligator–snout and eyes
A giant fish–a whale-sized prize!
Dogs and puppies, kittens, cats
Birds, a butterfly and bats!

Castles, towers…places where
Rapunzel might let down her hair!
Realistic or a fantasy…perhaps some fairy tales
Where dragons and white unicorns have golden horns and scales!

Just sit back on a cloud-rich day
And let your mind run wild
It doesn’t matter what your age–
A Senior, teen, or child….

When you’re in a laid back situation
With just a bit of imagination…
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!…
Are carved in the clouds of a summer sky!

© Sue Shaw