Stratospheric disturbance

Hot off the press!!  I wrote this poem last night and it benefited from a Suffolk Poetry Society workshop today, led by Judy Gahagan.

Cirrus uncinus cloud formation - mares tails

Perhaps that night I said too much,
ignoring niceties to eclipse the strident voices
baying in misunderstanding and meanness.
My incoherent anger was misread for greed,
dissatisfaction with what was left,
unaware I wanted nothing.

Unlike the weather, there was no storm warning
gaze above your head and the mares tails
of Cirrus Uncinus warn of coming wind,
the length of tail is guidance to the blow.
Ice crystals at altitudes above six kilometres
send their gently tumbling message to the eye,
influenced by an advancing depression.
The ice touched me that night, and no amount
of heated words could form a warm front.

Condensation trails cleave the upper atmosphere,
following a solitary flight path.

This poem appeared in the poetry and prose webzine Ink Sweat and Tears in September 2010

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