THE GATHERING CLOUD
J R Carpenter
Plate No. 3.
In the foreground, a
cumulusTo minuscule cumulus water droplets
air in an upwelling thermal below them
is as dense as honey is to a pebble
five thousandths of a millimetre across.
is breaking
in the sky part of a fine summer's evening.
More distant, to the left, shows cloud that remained.
Next, above, at the greatest elevation
at picture top, a fine
cirrocumulusFibres collapse and pass into round masses
their texture now no longer discernible.pass into round masses
.
We have
savedAisles of servers with amber, blue, and green
lights flashing hold our old email attachments.
too many memories to lose.
Snapshots from nearly forgotten vacations,
five thousand four hundred and seventy-five
sunsets
stored forever in Cloud formations.