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Untypical Witchery



Photo credit: Gareth Lloyd, sourced from Facebook


Red dust shook up, till the sun could be stared at, flat-edge-blurred, as though it were being reforged.
The storm like a bellows through fire came, twisting trees till all the deadwood fell.
We watched to see if it might char.
Leaves blew like sparks, carmine, citrine, circulating.
A storm is not strange in October, but - warm air, no rain?
A tropical tempest?
What untypical witchery is afoot?

Skin aglow, on a short car journey, we were laughing at how hairstyles were impossible serpents, and no clothing could be still (every passerby was a bag of snakes) and then, in a sheltered spot, how three cautious geese poked their heads from a gate before venturing the lane.
What - warm air no rain witchery, and no black cat? No hare? No bat?

Shuffle bottomed geese look back, lest we think to read their entrails.


Photo credit: Mike Batson, Southend On Sea Facebook page

Comments

Geo. said…
"...every passerby was a bag of snakes..."--I shall never forget that beautiful line. Here in Northern California, we've been dealing with wine country conflagrations. I stay indoors as much as I can stand, but have seen the sun fade midday for some weeks. Your description of such strange days is magnificent. But I wonder if the snakey bags might be righted by a return to looser clothing --or how much of it is due to greater profit with less material?
19 October 2017 at 01:25
Lisa Southard said…
I hope those conflagrations calm - and you get your afternoon sun back, and maybe some nice rain. I'm in favour of all clothing being comfortable, practical and not made by slaves, so less profit and more material is good with me :-)
19 October 2017 at 10:50
Geo. said…
Oh Lisa, it's raining tonight!
20 October 2017 at 08:42
Lisa Southard said…
Yay!!! Dog and I shall be going out to celebrate by jumping in muddy puddles :-)
20 October 2017 at 09:04
The Armchair Squid said…
Not witchery. Global warming. We're all doomed. Let the geese hang on to their entrails a while longer.
20 October 2017 at 12:16
Lisa Southard said…
Alas, yes, we don't really need the geese to forecast doom :-(
20 October 2017 at 22:23
Shannon Lawrence said…
Beautiful descriptions. I especially love the bag of snakes line and the shuffle bottomed geese.
25 October 2017 at 07:13
Lisa Southard said…
Hard not to love a shuffle bottomed goose :-) Thank you Shannon xx
25 October 2017 at 09:11
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