Hello-Goodbye Cloud Poem by gershon hepner

I plan to greet the hello-goodbye cloud
with joy, and not regret the temporary
occlusion of the sun it will enshroud,
for darkness will be only momentary.
The underbelly of the cloud is soft,
and it is doomed to disappear, so why
should I not look with happiness aloft,
assured of seeing blueness in the sky.

Inspired by the last lines of a poem, “The Apophatic, ” by Nance Van Winkel, in the June issue of “Poetry”:

atop smoke @so little air left
in the soft underbelly
that I may meet—nay embrace—
in the hello-goodbye cloud.


5/31/08