Ten Poems About Clouds

Who hasn’t looked up at the sky and seen a whale or a poodle or a sports car? There’s something about clouds that excites the imagination. Their shape-shifting nature means they never fail to entertain and intrigue us.

Here in our little archipelago we certainly get our fair share. Whether it’s the dumpy, fair-weather cumulus of a hot day in high summer or the spirit-dampening stratus of a wet November weekend, it’s hard to imagine our skies without them.

These poems explore the many different ways in which we experience clouds – whether simply as weather or as a more abstract representation of a state of mind or a mood. As Billy Collins says, quoting perhaps our greatest painter of clouds John Constable:

“The emotion is to be found in the clouds…”

from ‘Student of Clouds’ by Billy Collins

It’s impossible to pin down a cloud and this rich and varied selection reflects that beguiling elusiveness.