Atmospheric Spectrum Disorder

(A cycle in three pressure systems)

i. barometer (low-pressure)
low pressure inside the head
sagging like a question left
out in weather too long…
weather is a kind of guessing
(sky dreaming out loud)
and still
every morning
my skull checks the pressure
—some anxious mercury—
up down how now
a low front trembles
in the language behind my eyes
(wind has trouble remembering its name)
if the sun asks
I am fine
fine fine
but the clouds know
their handwriting aches
no umbrellas needed
just
a quiet place
for the atmosphere
to break
(drop
 by
  drop)
and somewhere inside
a forecast waits for courage
to admit its rain

ii. isobar (high-pressure)
parallel tensions
lines of equal worry
drawn so close they can’t help
touching…
today the air is heavy
on purpose
tight fist sky
holding back
every weather
breath stays shallow
as if lungs know
not to widen
and risk a storm
the forecast says
clear
but gravity
has other plans
sometimes
you don’t drown
you just
sink
slow
and in place

iii. heat lightning (unresolved energy)
brightness without thunder
a flash that doesn’t finish
what it starts…
tonight the dark
doesn’t quite
commit
light flares
without thunder
no one takes
responsibility
maybe this is
what almost joy
looks like
brightness rehearsing
its entrance
offstage
brightness
trying not
to startle
anything
I watch the sky
practice wonder
and think
I could
learn that

iv. forecast
conditions may change without warning