Clouds - Hannah Walker

Clouds by Hannah Walker (17)Pistachio green cardigans invite seated contemplation.Spread out on the grass,the colours clashing like infant siblings.Sitting down gently,the cold of the groundseeps up through my clothes.Sitting,perfectly arranged,so that arms and bodyform a trianglewith the ground.Sitting,breathing,wondering.Leaning, until I’m lying flat on my back.Like a starfish,or someone who thinks snow angels are possibleeven in the middle of summer.The cardigan doesn’t cover all the ground;grass tickles the soft insides of knees.The weight of me connects with the ground.At head,shoulders,spine,heels.It’s a cold, reassuring presence,firm against the small of my back.The air is warm and moist.A humid wind has risen up in the last few hours.It flies about,caressing the oaks’ weary fingers.An acorn plops to the ground.Warm humid wind and soft curling hair,brushes against pale cheeks.Some considerate city planner from eons passedplaced the treesperfectly.Far enough apart so as to allowsky to slice throughever moving leaves,but not so far that the world feels naked and barrenwithout its arboreal shield.The seasons have finally made up their minds;lush greens of a long wet summerslowly reveal their bloodied copper edges.In a month or soleaves will lose their grip on branchesand fall,delicate in death,to the ground.The sky is magnificently blue.Some forgotten deityhas spilled all their soap suds over the expanse.They stagger across the stage.Lying here,tiny and insignificant,I watch with the trees.All are watching the cloudsas they crawl,slowlytantalisingly,over the edge of the world.Others skip through the sky,like newly blossoming children.They play like young cattle dogs,behind the branches of treesand back again.Constantly hiding, teasing and emerging.They scuttle aroundlike peoplealighting from a morning train to Wynyard.Cool grass,warm sky,soft breath.The clouds scamper about,hurrying through the heavens,completely unaware of their earthly audience.The trees,the grass,and me,we sit and ponder the clouds.