A CLOUD

By Cara D’Ancuria

I was watching a white cloud in the sky. 

At first it was an old lady with the hair tied in a bun

Holding a cup in her hand.

Then it became a girl running with her hair open.

The hair turned into a field or rye and poppies,

And then I saw a house in flames.

The wind was blowing and the flames

Scattered into the forest on the hill

But the forest remained still with memories.

By the time the cloud dissolved in the sky

I was the old lady with the cup in her hand.