03 February 2015

Gray Sky Morning

 
Gray sky has settled on the black and green earth.
Muted edge of tree silouettes soften the horizon
as subdued light is the day's beginning.
 
A thunderstorm comes borne on the wind.
Lightning charges the morning sky.
Rolling thunder shakes free gray cloud moisture.
 
Rain falls to the parched country soil.
No sun will cure a prairie hay lying in a meadow.
Stacks across the hills piled to shed the wet.
 
Shorebirds probe in the mud of a marsh.
Small flocks scurry for an edible bit...
...run and feed at this drying wetland.
 
Wet crickets sing on the ground.
Grass and cattail dance in a northern wind.
Final strokes flash as fading thunder echos.
 
Fog clears to bring bright white.
Blue sky is gray sky gone.
 

Written September 11, 1991 at Carson Lake. ©1991 Jim Ducey.

Jim Ducey. May 15, 1998. Gray sky morning. In: Wetlands. Understanding a resource. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Water Center. p. 3.