Hearing the Wind You Cannot See

Thursday the airwaves around these parts

were full of dire predictions

tornadoes

freezing rain

snow

and wind

such wind

You learn to take these things with

more than a pinch of salt

while still looking skyward

ever seeking to read the 

signs of the times

And so it was

Thursday evening

that I stood outside

gazing up

into the dark clouds

feeling the cold of

plummeting temperatures

skating along my skin

No freezing rain

no snow

no tornadoes

only stillness

not a leaf rustling 

not a breeze stirring

But the sound

so loud

I turned all around

seeking its origins

I think I’ll never grow accustomed

in these mountain valleys

to the harbinger of wind

the sound of the locomotive

crashing all around

while everything,

everything

is stillness

Hearing it 

before you see it

even in the high trees

Wind so fierce 

it makes the still air

below it carry the harmony

to its perpetual melody

The only visible clue

the racing of the clouds

across the skyline

Not the calm before the storm

nor even the calm amidst the storm

(eye of the hurricane sort of thing)

but the calm in spite of the storm

The weather here is positively biblical