Riding the Upswing of Riverboat Wheels in the Sky

They glide ever so high, dark wings against piercing rays from shrouding light. Circling aloft where southbound an imminent momentum. Patterns converge and diverge in seeming random nuance. The overall broad pattern is symptomatic of discrete entity. Cooing of distant doves still reverb the solace of the environ.

The simmering heat begins to subside. Sheen of sweat into rising chill with the anticipation of something to come. Jumping spiders play, tiny mouth bits chomping empty air. They chase each other, posturing for dominance and guarding local proximities. Of the many, the big one sets his stage with bullish confidence.

The swallows of sleek, their fleeting forms dart south. They are feathered gangs of caution. Gliding dark wings become a platitude of wanton specks miles high. Starting with three and becoming many more, the distant motes ride an ever upward and southward inertia. They rise out of sight replaced by a creeping haze. Neighborhood birds caw and chirp loudly and the wind winds through my sleeves. Down the back and out the front. An omnipresent voice makes itself known, sending a rattling boom through many bone.

The mottled and orange wall, a vertical landscape for the tiny, is now devoid of the eight-legged fiends. They’ve scurried, probably, into unnoticed cracks and holes in some man’s own fissure in the world. A thing they know as home too. More wings pierce in that common direction, a desperate migration now shared across all airborne kin. Intermittent swarms of flipping and wheeling greens and browns follow, florid consciousnesses stripped from their mothers to flee alongside. The smell of soil dank with living nutrient accompanies endless lofted droplets. Dust causes an itch, a stir. Wind tickles deliberately and a new feeling emerges.

A reminder undoubtedly shears with forceful resonance. Paired with tiny, pinprick icicles and a steadying brisk wind, I sigh sharp. Ratcheted fear followed by cool acknowledgement. An impartation apparent. Fauna replies via continuous silence that is soon overwhelmed by turbulence and the fading bright. Dogs quiet and spiders gone, a few birds circle north waiting for stray partners. Strengthened by unity, a now joined pair flap strident ahead of weighty drops.

Unreal flashes of white surround my vision. Was it one flash or hyper frequent successions. The instances uncountable, the consequences felt. Rumbling broils overhead. A mile high, counted to five, no single streak but flashes of many. I lean back and look up, face to face with some omniscient beast, it is conscious and certain. It has clearly communicated and all mobile beings responded. I too but take no flight, for there is not a dry feather on my quickly moistening arms.

Sunglasses shield eyes from wind and rain. An altered reality, I gaze as the contrast of light lessens and the darkening deepens. Ambient noise escalates. Feeling uncertain I turn to the source, palm trees vigored flailing. The sheets come and they hit sting, cold lancing wind removes memory of the tropic summer conference. Crooking sheets turn into slanting curtains turn into howling nooks, a whirlwind of force and sound. I look up again and the sky has lightened, the hour is nigh and the crest has come. The senses become a shuffling of taps and roof-swept drippings. The pittering and pattering of drops fetter the green, cushioned rocking chair. I wait, looking for a sign, some clear message.

Wonder at the gravity of the situation. Lightning strike? It’s happened before, but I wait, counting between the flashes, awaiting refrain. They’re happening far enough, I relax and stay for the finale.

Pools begin to form. Collecting atop sunshades, they haze sight. So then I embrace the storm, removing the glasses and shivering with excitement. All material are soaked: camera, phone, battery, book, table, chair, clothes, hair, skin, being. I am wedded with nature. The message is on its descent. The skies open up and the curtains turn into cascading rush. The white egret is sighted across the lake, swooping towards a neighbor’s refuge and out of sight. I am immediately and audaciously soaked by a torrent overhead, a literal bucket of water. The message is received. I retreat into humanity, shivering and dripping in air conditioned mode.