What I Saw this Afternoon When I Looked Up

I saw a cloud today, shaped like a turtle
(though it could have been the other way around).
It swam across the sky. Fluffed head dark with thunder
Tilted in my direction. It gazed down at minuscule me,
Ice-blue eye rimmed with cirrus lashes, and winked.

I watched it push a grey-white fin through
The jet stream current, wide above. It obliterated
An Olympian cloud peak, sending shattered debris
Racing down immense slopes to bury a surprised
Pantheon of gods out on a ski vacation.

One of the joys I get out of writing comes from how I can share my silly flights of fancy with you. Do you remember the Warner Brothers cartoon with the kid in class who couldn’t pay attention to the teacher because he was too busy daydreaming about being a fighter pilot or a Navy frogman? That was me as a kid. It’s still me as an adult. Some days, a cloud really isn’t a cloud.