Forecast

It was very early—and still—the sky

gray, a small wind from the south

making no noise in the wind chimes,

but in the north it was darker,

thicker looking, as if all the trouble

massed there, waiting for the sun

to come up and reveal it. I felt sad

about Judas, asked by the Teacher

to do the painful, shameful thing

and to do it quickly. For all time

he would be seen as betrayer,

tempted by silver and jealousy, and who

but he and maybe the Magdalene,

dearest to the Teacher, would know

the truth? Yes, the sky in the north

before dawn was like the eclipse

on the afternoon it all came true.

But here in my world, which may be

the old world massing and rolling out

over and over in storm and war,

murder and woe, the wind chimes

only trembled, birds increased

their queries, their calls became specific,

and in the East, behind my neighbor’s

house, small white clouds appeared,

making an ancient city in the sky.

— Babs