Great Poetry Reading Day Poem: Clouds
- S P Clark
- Apr 28
- 2 min read
For as long as S P Clark can remember, he has been enamoured with clouds - their beauty, shifting forms, vastness and quiet shades; the way you can travel through them, gaze up or down on them, and the hidden figures first discovered in childhood. From this fascination, Clouds begins. Written to coincide with Great Poetry Reading Day, you can learn more about the event here.
Clouds
S P Clark
Written to coincide with Great Poetry Reading Day, 28th April 2026
Who can tell me how much a cloud weighs?
Those were the last words six year old me heard the teacher say before I looked out of the window that was sandwiched between the two pale yellow walls in the classroom and got lost in a daydream.
The sky was almost completely clear apart from the wispiest of clouds
Slight and graceful
Swimming around each other slowly
No, not swimming…dancing: they danced around each other slowly
Four fragile shapes wooing the fifth with their exacting moves
A celestial Rose Adagio.
I, watery-eyed, watched this majestic dance, but then came a sombre crowd
Dark and hateful
Walking towards the dancers quickly
No, not walking…rolling: they rolled towards the dancers quickly
Ten bad men using their horses, blocking the light with their hooves
A celestial screech; altissimo.
This frightening sight was hidden away under the cover of a shroud
Warm and peaceful
Falling upon the danger calmly
No, not falling…floating: floating upon the danger calmly
Six quirky boys disguised in spy clothes that they daren’t remove
A celestial mask; mustachio.
The sky cleared again leaving only the wispiest, most transient clouds
Bright and mirthful
Leaping around each other gaily
No, not leaping…flitting; flitting around each other gaily
One tender heart takes the hand of a flower and soothes
A celestial feast in Genzano.
Who can tell me how much a cloud weighs?
Those were the last words six year old me heard and then I thought, if the sky is the canvas then clouds are the delicate brushstrokes of a child trying to capture imagination and his dreams.
© S P Clark
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