Obscured by Clouds

"Obscured by clouds." Instinctively, I thought it was apt. It suited a foggy mind and uncertain thought. Then I paused and saw it again. "Clouds! That explains it."

Grey, looming clouds weighing down on me; but their sense is not of impending doom. They hang immensely in that gentle and brooding way of theirs- making everything only about them, and you can't help but be charmed. Seduced, even, by the lure of their deep and intense grey. Have you looked out from your window or balcony ever, to see storm clouds approach? An expanse of green, looking up uncertainly at the approaching darkness. Trees blowing in the wind, crowned by imperious shapes that excite and unnerve, all at once. In the midst of all this, whither clear thought?

Smiling, white cotton framed against an azure sky. These are clouds, too. They are happy, cheery, and no less powerful. They hang wispily over lush green and streaks of yellow and splashes of blue. A gentle breeze comes along; it strokes your heart as the leaves flutter. You lie back in the grass, looking up at the soothing blue and white, your limbs relaxing, your heart filling, your mind letting go. Little white strands float above, taking your thoughts with them, leading them into quiet nothingness. It is all serene and beautiful and meaningless, all at once. In this gentle pointlessness, whither focus?

They are magnificent and powerful, alluring and misleading; they gently whisper yet brook no argument; I am seduced and I am haunted; I am calmed, and I am left shaken. I am just here, obscured by clouds.