Dizzying Drifters

I dare you to try

Try to paint an afternoon cloud

One that you think is interrupting your perfectly sun-filled day with its unpredictability

The way it causes chills to tingle across your skin

It’s passage across the sky lasts a longer duration than your near nakedness was prepared to endure

While you lay there questioning why it needs to exist at all,

Sitting in your discomfort, acknowledging the temporary shift in temperature,

Examine how the hues shift and the light illuminates hidden values on its voyage

Notice the soft blush tones that glide along the messy, frayed outlines

In your elementary thoughts these same clouds existed as the doves do;

Peaceful, pure and alabaster

Your matured eyes now witness the delicate lilac being swept across the sky in a tango with plush grey

The silver lining that you are parentally programmed to search for is actually a celebration of blinding gold and pearlescent canary

The picturesque blue you may have reserved for the surrounding space manifests in the shadowed underbelly of each wandering wisp

It could be tempting

To shield your eyes and look away

To ignore the unique pigmentation among the cumulus

To revert to the nostalgic image of clean, rounded edges and ivory translucence

You have seen so many clouds

You have run from the rain they wept, afraid that if you did not seek shelter you would never feel the warmth of comfort again

You have used their presence as an excuse to abandon the light you naturally exude

You have forgotten the strength of the sun despite the shield they provided and have suffered the crimson consequences on your sensitive complexion

But remember, you have seen so many clouds

You have drenched your sensations, slick denim chameleoning to charcoal and clinging to your thighs as you danced in the rain they unleashed

You have rejoiced in their armor when the heat became too much to bear

You have cheerfully challenged your creativity and found reflections of familiar images in the forms they proposed, excitedly pointing them out to companions and comparing resemblances

Here you are

Desiring to bask in the sun like the cold-blooded mammal you have pretended to be in order to protect yourself

Realizing now that the clouds do not deny you contentment

They make the expansive atmosphere more interesting with each formation

An overcast day slated in silver serves to cloak the light of the sun so that the pantone of creation can perform more vibrantly

Previously defined boundaries appear ambiguous and constantly transformative

The milky pigment you intended for primary use is simply a mixing agent on your brilliant palette

Try to remember the complexities you witnessed billowing by when you pick up your paintbrush

Promise me you’ll try