It Starts With A Whisper Poem by edward lilley

It has become obvious to me
That there would be no wind
If it were not for little boys chasing little girls
Rounding corners
Stirring up dust
Their screams sending up flocks of starlings
Exploding piles of leaves
It is where it all begins...
With neverending running, running, running.
It picks up speed
From the push of the Chase
Or the terror of the Chased.
Urgent currents bending fieldgrass
Breezes boosting scarlet kites
Sending the cows home
Blowing flags straight out from poles
Lifting waves
Cooling the night with neverending running
Faster and harder until there are rumors of storms
Whirlwinds so powerful that circuses stop mid-show
For fear that these fierce new winds might blow away the tents
Growing stronger than elephants
Scarier even than lions
Threatening to blow the Ferris wheel away...unless
Unless somebody's mother yells,
'You get in here this minute! '
And as if somebody pulled the plug
The game of 'Catch the Girls' gets the wind knocked out of it.
And the Wind stops!
All children freeze in their tracks and must go pouting right to bed.
With them goes Urgency, Energy, and a secret never to be told.
Now, in the darkness
It is hidden under pillows
Whispered in dreams
Held in the arms of little boys and little girls,
Who know the sacred recipe for whipping up some Wind.