So anyway, having just gone on a plane down to Arkansas for my niece's wedding, and going through the clouds, it reminded me then of a question I'd asked my mom when I was a little girl.
Today's prompt to write about clouds at Poetry Jam was perfect timing for me. And then this image of Brooke Shaden's worked perfectly...the prompt at dVerse (my first link here) - to use one of her photos in her gallery. I chose her beautiful image of "floating on clouds".
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| "floating on clouds" by Brooke Shaden |
Logic
Such things that,
are logical
and obvious now
Involving things
like puppies
or high jumping cow,
My young brain
required answers
of “why” and of “how”...
Are you sure your belly
has a baby,
not a puppy?
Why does a cat
have a kitten,
not a guppy?
Can the person
in the TV
see me as I spy?
What is on
the other side
of the azure sky?
Do fish in the sea
swim under
islands, too?
Can a horse,
like the cow,
leap over the moon?
Could I understand grasshoppers
if they talked
very loud?
Could I, very carefully,
take a walk
on a cloud?
Learned lessons
of puppies
or a high flying cow,
Such things
seem logical
and obvious now -
Except perhaps
walking high
on a cloud
I think
treading softly
should be allowed.
©Donna JT Smith
I was astounded to find that an island was a hill or mountaintop surrounded by water. I was disappointed when my mother told me we could not walk on clouds. I was a bit doubtful when she told me that people had human babies and dogs had puppies, and cats had kittens, and no they never got mixed up. She was about to have my baby sister when that issue came up. I probably wanted a cat.
All the important questions of childhood.
ReplyDeletewalking high
on a cloud
I think
treading softly
should be allowed... Oh, me, too!
It is not hard to imagine seeing yourself up there jumping on the clouds, though it may be safer to just tread softly and carefully!
Deleteha. i think we should be allowed to walk on clouds as well...
ReplyDeletei love the logic of kids...they think it is all possible and then we lose
a bit of that along the way....
Everyone should hang onto a bit of their child!
DeleteThis reminds me of the wild and vivid imagination of the child ~ I think we should not lose that perspective and still believe in a bit of magic somehow ~ Thanks for participating and happy to meet you ~
ReplyDeleteIt is still fun to imagine. Harder as an adult, but still doable!
DeleteJust wonderful ! ! ! One of my fav's of yours, Donna.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wendy!
DeleteI still see those images in the clouds, and this poem reminds me what a fine thing it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
DeleteI love the questions children ask, Donna! They really help adults see from a different perspective, I think, and we need that sometimes!! I enjoyed this poem.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that I can remember asking these questions - most of them, anyway! Mom didn't laugh, she just answered them as seriously as they were asked.
DeleteYour poem really reflects those questions children ask others or themselves in a very faithful way. I agree that it is a pity we cannot walk on clouds, or water.
ReplyDeleteThose were two disappointments...water and cloud walking were not possible!
DeleteWonderful evocation of the joys and mysteries of childhood. So many questions, such a big world o explore and try to understand! Lovely write, Donna!
ReplyDeleteI think this is why I loved teaching the lower grades! Such wonderful imaginations and questions...and I could relive bits of my own childhood thoughts and dreams every day!
DeleteOh Donna I love your rhythm, they flow with such joy and simplicity..impossible is possible for the children isn't it?....
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sumana! At first I had a stanza using impossible, possible, improbable and probable, that I took out Maybe someday I will rewrite with those in again..
Deleteit is funny and fascinating how kids see the world - i remember when i was a kid i told my cousin that the dryness in the desert could easily be solved if they just built a high tower so the clouds would get caught and eventually start to rain down.... i would love to be able to walk on clouds as well... they always look so fluffy from down here - eh? smiles
ReplyDeleteThat is a good one! And in a way you were right. The mountains, like towers, can keep the rain on one side, leaving a desert on the other. If we can't do the towers, maybe the solution could be to take the mountains down!
DeleteMy granddaughters, especially the older one, ask questions like this all the time? I love your poem, Donna, it is so wistful, as if you liked being that little girl. Lots of love in it too.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wish we could tell them the answer they would like to hear, not the logical, correct one!
DeleteTo understand these things gradually.. and walking on clouds -- I just hoped that it would be allowed. Some things are good that we learn, but maybe we should continue to ask.. maybe that's what's really important.
ReplyDeleteIt is, so important to be able to ask those questions. Unfortunately, as one gets older, or if a child is laughed at, they can come to realize it might be better to just wait to learn the answers another way to avoid being laughed at...and that is sad.
DeleteRight now, I do not want a cat. I'm tired of being woken up at 3am every night just because he feels like I should be awake.
ReplyDeleteI think super-dense water vapor is your answer.
ooh...I like this...I imagine many have ask very similar questions...and though obvious now, I like to enjoy a bit of illogical every now and again.
ReplyDeleteThis is very fun Donna!
ReplyDeleteI love this Donna....kids always have the most wonderful questions and look at things in such a hopeful and wonderful way.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet... I can see this as a children's book.
ReplyDeletewonderful
ReplyDeleteBeyond Clouds
Yes those clouds always do look like you could get out and walk on them when one is flying over them. I still wonder how something that looks so solid could be so not there if you stepped on it. Enjoyed your reflections on the other childhood questions as well.
ReplyDelete