By Sam Yau
I love to gaze skyward
and greet my friends.
Gold sunbeams pour
like three layers of a
cascading waterfall
into the Pacific.
A dome
floats around me:
stratocumuli
like massive cotton balls
form the bottom,
and streaks
of white wisps
reach up to create the
celestial ceiling.
Successive layers form
a cloud staircase that reaches
from the ground up to
the only patch of blue in the sky.
A black hawk rises like a spirit
through the menacing, swirling,
dark thunderheads
toward the cloud-cloaked sun.
At sunset, cumulus form
a giant upturned hand,
holding the setting orb.
Luminous rays spray
through the space
between its fingers
into the twilight ocean.
The homeward sun’s reflection
forms a fiery candle in the ocean
against the crimson red sky.
Clouds dance
without attachment
across the azure sky.
They collide into each other
with utmost gentleness.
After rain,
transmutation.
The sky will be gorgeous
tomorrow morning.
Photo by Sam Yau