Conversation Between Clouds

And one said to the other:
It's different every time, but there was one ...

And as they roiled above they seemed to want to be
Something in particular, not just anything,

Becoming, in turn, something altogether other,
Dying out at the edge,

Where the last trace of their former form had been.

And one said to the other:
Think of two creatures lying down, unknowing

They recline upon a substance without body
Floating in the air,

Of the vertigo of knowing this
The moment they arise, a moment carrying the fall

Itself as they fold into each other or fade.

And one said to the other:
Remember, dear, there is nothing below but a sea

Of wind, ribbons of rain,
A parachute of snow, nothing contains us,

But even so, it is wise to hold on to my hand
Even though

It is a cloud among clouds.

Copyright © 2006 Phillis Levin All rights reserved
from The New Republic
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission