A selection from a series inspired by the US Postal Service ‘Cloudscapes’ stamps (now out of print):
Cirrus Radiatus

How your name sizzles!
Yet they swear
your heart is born
of windblown ice-
but look how your ivory fingers
caress the azure;
how they reach out
to the world
like a lover
begging her hand.

Cumulonimbus Incus

An Inca god no doubt.
Yet I mistook him
for a wild stallion
galloping across the Andes
in search of whiter snow.
On closer look,
I see he’s only a common cloud
puffed with pride,
pondering where and when
to drop his offering.

Altocumulus Undulatus

You win the prix d’or
for décor of
the ozone dome.
The human eye stares
in awe of your miracles:
sky of virgin smiles,
sky of unbearable joy.

Cumulus Congestus
On first glance
I shivered, feared
you held the poison of Hiroshima…
Grasping your name,
I breathe relief
you merely suffer a spell
of cumulated congestion.
Nothing serious –
nothing a dose of crisp air
and a brisk constitutional
across the moor
won’t cure.