http://www.vpr.net/audio/programs/229/2012/12/121203_ywp.mp3
This piece was written beneath the clouds, and has since been chosen for publication in the YWP anthology. This recording was made from a live reading at our anthology release party in front of a hushed crowd of over 150 people.
Nightmare Clouds
by Coyote Farrell
Grade 8, Richmond Middle School
They come
rolling across the sky
across the mountains.
Dark
black
masses.
If the white ones that flit
across the wide expanse of blue
are dreams,
then the ones that overwhelm
the brightness of the sun now
are nightmares.
The whole mountain
is encompassed in a sense of gloom.
Terrifying,
that's what the clouds are.
They come rolling in,
piled up so thick
that they can block out
the light of the world.
Anything
could reside in their depths,
thunder,
lightning,
rain,
hail.
But what they hold
is a treasure.
I know
that what falls from the black masses
people have been wishing to come.
When they open their doors,
those colossal amorphous shapes,
will release fragile crystals.
They will smother the grass,
which has been alive
for months to long,
and winter might finally begin.
