Wednesday 21 October 2009

More about the clouds


Last week (back here) I mentioned a 'small stone' that I had up on Fiona Robyn's popular A Handful of Stones site. I also said I would post the other four 'stones' about clouds that she had not picked so here they are:



Cloud stone

Nothing looks as real as the clouds today
So total, so solid



Low cloud

Over there they see nothing
Over here we see their low cloud
And wonder what they see



Cloud factory

The place where they make clouds
Must be very busy
A great employer



Cloud association

Clouds
Dreams
Speech bubbles
Puffs of smoke


So what do you think? Would you have chosen the one that Fiona did...this one:


Cloud secrets


What do the clouds know
That they're not telling?



Or one of the others? I liked the 'Low cloud' one myself.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Or read some other 'stones' on clouds.

x

20 comments:

hope said...

Actually I liked "Low Cloud" the best because it brings back a wonderful childhood memory.

My Dad was in the Navy for 4 years prior to marrying Mom and he'd tell us of pulling into port at Casablanca and the like. We'd go to the beach every summer and he once caught me staring at the horizon. When I asked him what was there, where the water and sky met he said,"Wonderful things. Wonderful people."

And from that day on, that's how I always thought of you folks "across the pond"...wonderful people in wonderful places. Because my Daddy said so. :)

Jim Murdoch said...

I think she made the right call myself. My second choice would have been 'Cloud stone' I think but my favourite (only I'm afraid because it triggers off a pile of childhood memories) is 'Cloud factory'. There was a factory in the industrial estate behind where my parents lived that had a huge chimney from which rose a pillar of 'cloud' and I liked to imagine it was a cloud factory.

Titus said...

Brilliant programme on the World Service last night on the biology of clouds. Clouds need bacteria!Who'd have though it.

I'm with hope; "Low Cloud" for me.

Rachel Fox said...

So that's 3 for Low Cloud (because I chose that one too) and 2 for Cloud Secrets (Jim and the site's editor Fiona). Anymore for anymore?

Lovely story Hope by the way. You have lots of good stories.

x

Rachel Fox said...

Or did Jim really vote for Cloud Factory? Not that one of them will have to run the country or anything...

x

Niamh B said...

Low cloud is very lovely - but I think I enjoyed cloud factory most, I can just picture the place - the different lines running.

Rachel Fox said...

Yes...maybe that could even be expanded into a longer poem. Heck, it could be an animated film!

I was so surprised when she chose the Secrets one. In all honesty it was the chucked-out-quickly to make it up to 5 one! I thought it was the weakest of the 5 - especially given the brief. Hey ho, what do I know?

x

swiss said...

nobody ever likes the same poems i do after i've ritten them! lol

low cloud for me

Rachel Fox said...

Low cloud 4
Cloud factory 1
Cloud secrets 2?

Though I may have to speak to the fourth official (is that the right terminology? Must listen to Mark more...) about Jim's choice.

Is it just me or is cloud one of those words that gets fuzzy once you look at it for too long? I'm starting to want to spell it 'clowd'!

x

Anonymous said...

My vote's for Cloud secrets. Here's one of mine, quite often anthologised:

a wispy cloud drifts up,
skimming spruce-tops
exhaling, the hills huff

Rachel Fox said...

Thanks Colin. On two counts.
x

Marion McCready said...

Cloud Secrets for me, got a bit of an eerie feel about it that I really like.

Rachel Fox said...

It's getting close now

Low cloud 4
Cloud factory 1
Cloud secrets 4

Maybe I should make the winner into a t-shirt or something.

x

A Cuban In London said...

Cloud association was my favourite one. It was very well-written and very visual. I started reading your book. Enjoying it so far.

Greetings from London.

Rachel Fox said...

Low cloud 4
Cloud factory 1
Cloud association 1
Cloud secrets 4

Any more? Or shall I close the voting?

x

The Solitary Walker said...

Late as usual, but it's 'Cloud Secrets' for me. 'Cloud Factory' brought to mind that song sung by June Tabor and others.

It's funny how we often take clouds for granted. There can be the most spectacular cloud formations - there was a whole skyload of them the other day (even more impressive in flat Lincolnshire where huge skies dominate) - but we all just scurry along, busy with our ant-like activities, heads down. It's almost as if we can't cope with the bigness of the beauty. I've sometimes found that overwhelming beauty can be difficult to cope with, disturbing somehow.

Rachel Fox said...

Not late, most welcome!

x

Rachel Fox said...

And I think I'll post Tabor singing that song next week. It's lovely.
x
Final scores?
Low cloud 4
Cloud factory 1
Cloud association 1
Cloud secrets 5

Which, interestingly, backs editor Fiona's choice.
Thanks to all who joined. I am always interested in who likes what. It's a source of endless fascination!
x

Crafty Green Poet said...

I would have made the same choice to be honest, though i like them all...

Rachel Fox said...

Low cloud 4
Cloud factory 1
Cloud association 1
Cloud secrets 6

Now it's looking like a runaway victory...and I feel bad for no.1 'Cloud stone'. Nobody picked it!

x