Perpetuity

Perpetuity(Carl Brooks) Perpetuity

By
Carl Brooks

The air is still...
Flowers spring up to form beauty marks on the velvet
Green carpet of grass covering the gently rolling hills.
Mountains in the distance, ghostly, with their white cloak of mist,
Perhaps the color of a tarnished nickel,
Selfishly hiding their soft peaks and deep valleys.

A sudden wisp of wind combs through the startled grass,
Giving the illusion of cat-paw waves on a near-by lake.
Puffy clouds overhead, content to appear and dissipate at will,
Scurry by, searching for more of their kind.

Sol, unceasingly soaring across the cloud-spotted sky,
Warns all to enjoy his blessings while they last.
A prophecy... perhaps.
He is old and knows everything.

A stronger gust whips through a near-by oak,
Teasing the leaves, as a child musses another's hair,
Then runs away.
Laughing and turning skyward, the juvenile gust chases a cloud,
Nipping at its tail, daring it to follow and play.

"Go away," cries the cloud, "I must hurry and join my family.
I have no time to play."
"Ha! Ha!" Whistles the wind. "Come and catch me if you can.
All are afraid of my power, Ha! Ha!"
"Go away!" scowls the cloud, "I have no time for such antics.
I must hurry to meet my family."
Angrily, the wind whips away, stirring leaves in a whirlwind.

"I have the power of a tornado, or hurricane, at will.
I can chill to the bone with the mere thought of an icy gale.
I can bring hope with a slight summer breeze.
I can spread a forest fire when I'm bored.
Or raise a dust storm a hundred miles deep," cries the wind.

Now, whipping through cracks in a mountain wall,
Whistling a tune known only in secret.
"Alas, all have gone since long, long ago.
Beaten by Mariah."
Now, still proving this new strength,
Mariah tears at the limbs of rooted ancients.
Forcing bows of lesser subjects. Ripping and bending
With no concern for what is left behind.

Skyward, once again,
Slamming against the now, much bigger cloud.
"I have warned you, Mariah," scowled Nimbus.
“I have work to do. Heed me or I will trample you
To a mere wisp."

Laughing and unafraid, Mariah gathers strength and force
For a final challenging blow to the center of this puffed-up Nimbus.
The swelling is felt for miles.
The swirling and rustling, the singing and howling
Of a thousand gales coming together at once.
Enough to make even Sol take notice.
Mariah gathers everything loose upon the earth
And hurls it skyward with a force
Which would prove once and for all who is supreme..

The air becomes pregnant and still in a heavy silence...
Beast and fowl alike can feel the quiet...
Animals cower, while insects rush to safety
As they see the fight begin...they know...

All at once Mariah bursts out of the volatile mass
And whips toward the Earth.
CRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!
A huge bolt of lightening strikes at Mariah,
Missing, while exploding a tree.
Moisture is heavy throughout the battleground.
A deep drumming sound is heard and draws rapidly near,
As if a thousand muskets were exploding in nature’s own Civil War..

Hail, the size of pine cones, punctuate Nimbus' fury.
Beating and pounding lifeless, all who stay to resist.
Mariah gasps and can hardly move....strength abating fast.
Losing control, with one last all-exerted lunge,
Mariah whips wildly in every direction.
Mercilessly, the deluge smothers and snuffs out
Her very essence of life.

Mustering all of a once mighty power,
Mariah can barely manage to rustle the leaves.
The ice slowly melts as the hail subsides its anger.
The dying wind moans in haunting pain.

Small puffs of clouds are all that is left,
While they scurry by in a volant manner,
Looking for more of their kind.

The clarity and detail of distant mountains,
Beauty, such as seldom seen,
Opens with a beam of sunlight...
Almost as a reward for endurance.

All is open for those who care to behold,
Life is seen carrying on as before.
Somehow knowing the birth and death of Mariah will occur,
Again and again, as the ghostly game is played out...in perpetuity.

The air is still...
Flowers spring up...
The mountains...