Melting Landscapes Poem by Helen Gaudin

Strawberry clouds lay in folds upon the horizon
Lavender drifts folding down into bruised purple banks
Darkening moment by moment, sun overwhelmed by the brush of clouds
Crystal drops randomly hit the windscreen, changing shape and becoming fluid
My morning's journey through a surreal world of melting landscapes

I enter an enclosed space where I will spend hours
A place separate from enlivening and ever changing nature
A man made box sealed off from the chaos that is the world
Order, structure, time and rules are the byword of this artificial landscape
Beyond the window I momentarily see a sliver of the dark grey sky
Enclosed between harsh, straight lines of solid mass

And as I left this enclosed world and stepped through the door
The southern wind buffeted me with a hard body blow
I thought of the words of Kahlil Gibran " the wind delights to play with your hair"
I took off my hat and released my hair from its tie
The wind leapt forward and I was surrounded by a white cloud
Fingers of wind danced through my hair and twisted and curled
Elflocks were dropped onto my shoulders, then lifted up again
I looked at the world through stranded white and the wind still danced

As I entered my car the rain flung itself onto the windscreen like a jealous sibling
The wind lost its playful nature, buffeting as it threw itself against the car's metal body
The sound of rain reverberated through the car
Visibility reduced, the world refracted, chaos once again in dominance
Enlivened nature gave me a journey home through a surreal melting landscapes