(Photo: Taken at the Philadelphia Art Museum)
They watched its birth on the horizon.
Puffy white blooming into the upper air. Feeding hot and wet in the humidity.
In minutes, its mood darkened over the water. Billowing larger. Cutting shadows across the other clouds.
Then, the curtain of rain unrolled across the bay. They scurried to pick up books and belongings and huddled in the small cabin of the boat.
They sat, watching the bobbing doorway and listening to the patter of the rain. Waves drummed against the hull, turned into the wind by the anchor.
First port, then starboard.
A slow
rocking
beat.
By the time the skies cleared, their thoughts waltzed in watery wombs.
Gentle grey still lingered in their sleep.
(In honor of our 2010 maiden voyage today. All in all, a good day despite skirting the summer squalls.)
9 comments:
I love the picture... and your words certainly do it justice. Great first line!
LOVE this. Thunder always speaks to me. Your words are wonderlands all of their own Jason :)
this sounds more like a tsunami than a thunder...
I have vision of floating bodies here...
What do you call it???
...Reader's Response I guess...
I love what you've done with A slow rocking beat.
You've quite a way with making the words visual in their shape on paper. Onomatopoeia for the eyes:
"Onomatopoeia for the eyes:"
Laurel, what a great description!
Yet another lovely(lovely, lovely) piece, Jason.
I agree. The words and visual are so lovely together!
Wow, I could see that so vividly. Well done, truly.
Sounds like a wonderful time, Jason. I think there's nothing like a summer squall.
Terri, that photo is not too far from how it was. I would have my own picture, but dummy (me) forgot the camera card.
Tabitha, I love how thunder resonates in the ground itself. It races from the sky to the caverns of the Earth.
Mona, thankfully, no! We anchored and rode it out. Nothing too nasty. We've been in much worse.
Laurel, thanks for pointing that out! I really like to experiment here. So much can be conveyed with pacing, breaks, and white space.
Bernita, many thanks, my friend. The only thing better than this little description was living it. Chesapeake Bay...we go there often.
Meghan, next time, I'll try not to blow my opportunity for photos. I would have liked to capture that storm forming!
Oddyoddyo13, if I blow everything else, I'm happy if a piece of writing is vivid and lifelike. Thanks! (Okay, truthfully, I don't like to blow any parts of it. ;) )
Karen, weather looks so much more potent from the water. I guess it's the far reaches to the horizon. Even the upper Chesapeake still has miles of water.
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