In the prelude to a storm,
I watch the sky bruise,
hear thunder introduce
lightning in a breath
before it pirouettes across the sky.
As the show fades into the distance,
ghosts appear in a pale fluttering
of moths filling the garden with clouds.
Unseen to the naked eye,
in the grass or in the sky,
is momentum and motion,
the change in position
of particles and atoms:
everything in the universe is dancing!
Kim M. Russell, 7th August 2018
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Unseen Things, also linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Tuesday Platform
Jill is hosting Poetics this week and asks us to imagine that we can see unseen things. She wants us to let your poetic muses (another of those unseen things) inspire our writing and asks what we would discover if we could see time, the workings of angels, or a child’s imagination, considering things whose existence is certain but that we cannot see. I love the example she has given, ‘Who Has Seen the Wind?’ by Christina Rossetti, a poem I learned at junior school.
The sky bruising… i love that, and all that movement we have around us… that’s perfect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Bjorn.
LikeLike
Wonderful how you invoke the language of music into this marvelous dance of the air – just love it! The imagery of the kinesthetic sense is so well executed, Kim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jill. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I watch the sky bruise….. what a line. XXXX
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Alison. xxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautifully imagistic and musical!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Frank!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure, Kim! 😇
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, everything in the universe is dancing and it is captivating. I loved this bit: “I watch the sky bruise,/hear thunder introduce/lightning in a breath”.
-HA
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, HA.
LikeLike
I like how everything in the universe dances.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup–nothing is stagnant, even decay is a form of motion. I dig it. As Anthony Quinn said as Zorba, “Dance, did you say dance, boss? “
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always! (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that – the dance of the universe riding the storm – beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Suzanne.
LikeLike
I love how you capture the continuous motion of weather, wind and atoms. I often think about this constant motion and feel like a boulder in comparison! Nicely written!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
Love this – nice build up to the explosion of particles and atoms!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, V.J.!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a feast of imagery, especially the ending… It makes me want to walk outside and see what’s dancing at the moment. Your poetry tends to do that to me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your enthusiasm and kind comments, Magaly. You’ve lifted my spirits this morning. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed! Entropy is the name of the game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That bruised sky filled me with concern but reading the rest I remembered that great performers sometimes bruise when training in their artform. Very dynamic piece.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yesterday evening there was a definite bruise in the sky and I was looking forward to a dramatic storm – all we got was rain!
LikeLike
I guess this is why they call them the forces of nature. I love your great images in this poem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dwight!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kim, this is lovely and truly makes the reader consider the unseen and unknown behind the visible and sounds. Everything moving together, whether we know it or not. And the rhythm of your poem does indeed make the who piece dance!
LikeLiked by 1 person
the “whole” piece!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉
LikeLike
Thank you, Jo-Anne!
LikeLike
Oh, Kim! Powerful opening and lilting closing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you kindly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that’s it. It’s what we can’t see that sets everything in motion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Even the little critters on Earth know when it is time to dance, while we humans moan about the rain and even if it is too hot or cold rather than relish the variation and good each does. I think we must be aliens the way we react to the conditions that guarantee our survival!
LikeLiked by 1 person
ah! the eternal dance of universe which was present a million years ago and will be there for ever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🌞
LikeLike
I love that bruise/introduce rhyme in the opening.
“As the show fades into the distance,
ghosts appear in a pale fluttering”
This is really amazing — the way you observe everything.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!
LikeLike
The last line is the perfect conclusion to your description.. you see so much in nature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Kerry.
LikeLike
the introduction stanza is so word perfect Kim – it really is sublime and so beautiful 🙂
and the suite, the symphony of the storm and its ending, are equally beautiful …. you’ve really captured essence of storm here, as well as the wonders of the moths …. this doesn’t happen all too often, but when they suddenly appear in massive swathes afterwards, it really is quite something ….
lovely poem Kim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for your kind comments, Pat. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like the energy of a summer storm.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
Great imagery here (and photo too) – and I so like your choice of the sonnet form for this (so staid and conservative) – it’s like your words are bursting out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Peter. It does feel as if the words are bursting out sometimes. 🙂
LikeLike
You reaffirmed my belief that physics is simply science in a poet’s body. Beautiful.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Charley.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The unseen movement is always there as everything has energy. A bruised sky, I’ve never thought of it like that, a great description.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Truedessa.
LikeLike
kaykuala
of particles and atoms:
everything in the universe is dancing!
There are fun and joys that may miss one’s presence and attention. It is all attributed to awareness
Hank
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s to butterfly (or moth) effects. Joining the dance. Stunning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you kindly, Lona.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved those last words…”everything is dancing!!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Annell!
LikeLike
Absolutely stunning! I love that image of the sky bruising before and during the storm….it is SOOOO true. Have never thought of it that way….now I’m sure the next time the sky turns dark previewing a storm coming, I will think of it in exactly these terms!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Lill!
LikeLike
Nice, nice. I’ve also been thinking about fairy handkerchiefs though I guess that is another phenomenon that doesn’t require a storm.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Marian.
LikeLike
This is so subtle, beautiful…the picture perfectly fits…!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Sreeja!
LikeLike
Ah, the dance of the universe, seen only with the imagination and the mind, not with the naked eye. Love the progression of this and the wonderful ending.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Linda.
LikeLiked by 1 person