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patterns on water
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Poetry | September/October 2022

when i was a cloud

By Elizabeth Cranford Garcia

for Lydia, age 3

and the sky was not    was never      was all sibilance and zither    a fluency blue blue
    sun imbued  I was the lucent  guess  of myself a plenitude less bodied  less gaveled
all morning and first                 song all wing and priory the feather's
    clerestory              nothing yet to defy     before the tongue's kick       its glottal stop
all vowels and ahs       I lived             where meaning lives          the throat's chancel
     all desire was  my churning   my dirtied feet          they purred     parabola'd to you
before I became the apple weight        thud in your lap         gravity's little pink lady

4 replies on “when i was a cloud”

Emily Updegraffsays:
September 22, 2022 at 2:43 pm

Love this – the idea that Lydia was a cloud before she was born, “…I was the lucent guess of myself…” And the last line – perfect!

Reply
Emily Updegraffsays:
September 22, 2022 at 3:06 pm

Also, I’ve never seen a poem formatted like this – it gave me a sense of scanning the clouds for something. Great way to give additional texture to the experience of reading it.

Reply
Anne Batemansays:
September 23, 2022 at 3:38 am

I loved this too. This poem is beautifully spot on crafted… I love the images and words, which continue to hum in the after memory, when you can no longer see them.

Reply
Linda Wimberlysays:
September 24, 2022 at 3:59 pm

You had me with the first line. Love this poem!

Reply

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