Dark Sky

dark sky above

flowering storm, mountainous,

in me 

not quite encapsulated,

these words, 

small stick shapes to convey

earth passion,

gentle as featherfall, 

powerful as 

destructive thought,

enough to collapse

the mind

 

a dog pleases its master

children roil against each other in play

parent establishes limits on ice cream

the force of nature spill it's energy into the 

void between thoughts

we escalate to Pan's flute and the tears 

from a bruised

sky

 

and somewhere small

 in me

i cry silent

 

nature 

touches all

Reviews

[Toni Prehoda Kahler]

I read through twice, first just feeling the words, then really digging in. I am moved by nature's moods as well, so I felt close to this piece. This poem has so much outer and inner weather: I like that the children "roil". And I find great pleasure in the understated power of your writing experience: "small stick shapes to convey earth passion" and how you then move on to the "gentle as...powerful as..." contrast, and your mood suddenly as dark as the sky (title sings here). Through the three ordinary scenes you list, you speak of pleasing, of unfettered play, of setting limits, and then on into inner turmoil, to the "bruised sky" and your silent tears. This parrallel between sky (nature) energy and your own thoughts is powerful.
I think the best moment of this piece is toward the end, where, after all that powerful imagry in both weather and thoughts, you go to "somewhere small", and find your emotion. I like how this piece breathes in and out that way, wide to narrow, and then at the end, widening again.