Flying Lesson Poem by Dolores Hayden

Focus on the shapes. Cirrus, a curl,
stratus, a layer, cumulus, a heap.

Humilis, a small cloud,
cumulus humilis, a fine day to fly.

Incus, the anvil, stay grounded.
Nimbus, rain, be careful,

don't take off near nimbostratus,
a shapeless layer

of  rain, hail, ice, or snow.
Ice weighs on the blades of  your propeller,

weighs on the entering edge of your wings.
Read a cloud,

decode it,
a dense, chilly mass

can shift, flood with light.
Watch for clouds closing under you,

the sky opens in a breath,
shuts in a heartbeat.