Stratospheric Clouds

The gentle crunch of snow beneath feet

It is an icy tundra all around

The whole Earth is blanketed white

And there is not a soul to make a sound

High above the white surface of the ground

Just below the expanding black of the firmament

The clouds are a wispy canvas

And I below am lost in wonderment

Incandescent

Resplendent

Magnificent

Iridescent

Colors paint the sky

In rainbows and cotton candy pastels

“A penny for your thoughts”, I say,

Hoping for secrets only heaven can tell

In this phenomenon I am enraptured

Gentle hues dance through the stratosphere

I catch a glimpse of such beauty

Into which only angels can peer

Am I still on earth?

Is it my feet that tread upon the snow?

How high does my soul fly?

Perhaps God only knows