The skies have been dramatic lately with storms rolling in and out. On a morning walk earlier this week, I looked up and saw a carpet of pink. A few steps later, a rainbow. Then the sky became yellow and the clouds broke apart. All in a matter of minutes.
Let this image inspire your muse this morning. Where will you walk? Who is with you? What can you imagine? Write a small poem in the comments and come back to leave encouraging responses to others.
Avalyn (3rd grade) wrote this haiku with me:
Cotton candy sky
Mrs. Simon and Avalyn
If you look closer, you see
aesthetic heaven.
Reflections on the Teche 
early morning sun
streaks the sky with a warm glow
igniting the day
Rose, my students and I took your lead and wrote haiku responses. I love “igniting the day.” It gave us some figurative language to discuss.
Oh these sky haiku. So much beauty spread far and wide yet contained in just 3 lines and if the traditional style, 17 syllables. My house does not have the windows that allow views of either and so I am always thrilled when I am someplace that does or see shared photos. Yet poems help me conjure this natural painting! So much glory in nature in your poem, Rose.
Beautiful imagery, Rose. I love your poem especially your verbs “streaks” and “igniting.”
Rose, “warm glow” and “igniting the day” really capture this beautiful image.
I love pink mornings
That make me wonder
What’s coming next –
Rain and thunder
From east to west,
Foggy adornings,
Not weather’s best –
Or weather blunder…
Instead sun-blessed.
I know the flowers
Think blessed is showers.
By Donna JT smith C2022
Love this, especially the beginning – you captured that wonder perfectly!
I love how you begin your poem, Donna. We had some wonderful rain while we were away with the grandkids. Everything is so green now. At our son’s though in Penn. they have not had good rain in a while and there is so much browned out. Your poem helps us to see how welcome the rain is despite it dampening our plans some days!
Donna, I also love your beginning, which to me invites the reader in. Nice rhyme.
Lovely perspective found in wondering about the sky. It makes me do the same with the sky I’m seeing right now. So many possibilities in the skies, aren’t there. You have captured them!
Nice haiku from you and Avalyn! Thanks for letting me work with kids vicariously through you, Margaret!
After the storm
Swirls of pink
Soothe the sky.
We’re on our third day without power after a house-rattling storm… Typing on my phone and don’t know how to get rid of all those annoying capital letters!
I’m sorry your power is out. Such an inconvenience. I’m happy this little photo brought some comfort.
Lovely!
Oh, Buffy, that one word, soothe. I love how the natural world is so soothing, so inviting, so lovely. I hope that it is not too hot where you are without power.
Buffy, I love this especially, how the pink swirls “soothe the sky.” I also love the personification and the sound of your alliteration.
“soothe the sky” – Oh, what a lovely metaphor for these beauties!
This is true. My husband would not take photos, don’t ask. He is not a photographer and I have a blessedly incredible new phone camera. It was hard and too scary to stop and switch. I have to hunt online to see if anyone else who was a witness captured this. So glad you brought it to my mind. It was perfection, rare, astounding.
Last Night, the Sky
Driving along in heavy peasoup rain,
the sky more gorgeous than art
captured me, urged me
to remember its utter and rare beauty.
Words can never be enough, I fear and
I am not a painter.
Mist, haze, pink sky, grey wisps flutter before mountains,
the sun a glorious star spreading light
I may never witness this again. I want to weep
for so many reasons. And yet I smile
with gratitude to be a witness.
Janet Clare Fagal
@draft, 2022
Photos can rarely reproduce the drama of the sky. Your words describe it well. I can relate to the miracle of this vision.
You captured that sky, that “utter and rare beauty” in words, probably better than a photo could.
Thank you, Rose. I really hope I never forget the sky and landscape I was seeing. It was incredible light and color and the rain had lessened to almost nothing from a very heavy storm. I would imagine that some of those traveling along the highway where I was took photos through their windshield. No idea really how to find a view, but hope to.
Janet: I have had such moments also. You said it beautifully!
Thank you, Karen and Gail for your nice comments. I am already revising my poem. It was a moment and I am still painting it in my mind.
Wow, Janet, I love how your emotion and imagery capture the reader in this beautiful poem! I resonate with your line “gray wisps flutter before mountains” because it it’s a perfect description of the Adirondack Mountains.
Janet, I understand the sentiment that “words can never be enough,” but you have managed to convey so much of what you witnessed with your word choice. This poem is gorgeous, and when you read it, it will always take you back to that sight.
How beautiful! It really is cotton candy.
Yes, I wrote a haiku with cotton candy in it also, then read what you all wrote and decided I liked yours better! Haha. Nice work, all! I will try again next week. ;0) Oh… Buffy… I hope your power is back on SOON!
Karen, repetition can be a beautiful thing. I hope you will share your poem.
Cotton candy pillows
cover a backdrop of blue
Sunshine hugs hold our gaze
Denise, I love your poem especially, “sunshine hugs hold our gaze.” I love the sounds of your alliteration and consonance, too. I have also used the word backdrop in my poem.
I want to hug the line “Sunshine hugs hold our gaze.”
Ah, those cotton candy pillow clouds, perfect. I have become such a cloud fan as I have gotten older. Funny I was as a child. So this week’s poems and photos grab me and make me smile. I agree about the beauty of your last line. Such a nice Haiku, Denise.
Margaret and Avalyn, a “cotton candy sky” is a perfect description of the sky! I love the voice in your poem and how the last line is a beautiful metaphor. Before I looked at your photo, I was looking at winning photos in my Audubon magazine, so birds were on my mind.
a pink cloud backdrop
piping plovers, pirouette
on a sandy stage
©Gail Aldous draft 9/2022
Thank you for your beautiful photo, poem and inspiration.
A lovely line of alliteration in “piping plovers pirouette”.
Thank you, Margaret. I had dancing and I thought I need to continue the alliteration in the third word. Enjoy your school year with your students.
Hi Gail. Oh, I really love this Haiku of yours. I was captivated immediately with piping plovers and their pirouette and then, boom, that “sandy stage”….just a really nice poem, Gail.
Hi Janet, I actually had the piper plovers dancing, and I knew I needed to continue with the alliteration. I also had the sandy stage as the first line because I wanted to start with the stage, but it wasn’t working. Thank you, Janet.
Gail, I love the scene you have created with your beautiful words. Very nice alliteration!
Thank you, Denise. I love watching piping plovers at beaches. They are so cute and run so quickly. They are also endangered so that makes them extra special.
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Margaret and Avalyn, lovely cotton candy sky. I couldn’t think of anything else when I looked at the photo. It is cotton candy! Your last line is so grand, I feel I am looking right into heaven.
I missed a wonderful This Photo Wants To Be a Poem. Avalyn’s cotton candy sky poem is full of surprise->aesthetic heaven.