Weekly Writing Prompt:

Cloud Gazing, Alliteration & Word Play

I have always been a cloud gazer.

As a child, I would lay on my back in the grass, eyes skyward, and let my imagination run wild—transforming clouds into galloping horses, wise old men, or castles in the sky. It was one of my favorite pastimes, a moment of quiet magic and creativity.

In my latest book, Over Yonder: A Poet’s Exploration of South Carolina State Parks, Book II, I revisit that childhood joy in a poem inspired by a moment at Lake Warren State Park. I was there with my grandson, Julian, when we looked up and saw a spectacular sky full of clouds.

That view eventually sparked a playful poem brimming with alliteration and wordplay. Writing it felt like chasing shapes in the sky—wonder-filled and free.

This week, I invite you to look up.

Prompt:
Write a poem inspired by the clouds. Use alliteration, wordplay, and wonder. Let your imagination drift. Describe what you see—or what you once saw. What shapes or stories reveal themselves in the sky?

Let your words morph into whatever my mind makes.

C is for Cumulus Clouds
For Lake Warren State Park
Glenis Redmond

We, Capricious Cartographers,
find Comfort in these Cushions of Calm––
Chalk Chambers. Congregations of Cotton
Characters. Compelling Clutter. Cusps of Cake.
Coveted Charisma.

We say, Cumulus. Cumulus. Cumulus.
They obey the Command and Come.
We climb into the clouds.
Take delight in their Cyclical Conversations
as we find Community in their Countenance
and Copious Consolations.

We coo as we spy Celestial Cliffs,
Creamy Canopies, Colossal Castles,
Cherub Choirs and Cargo of Cloud-born
Calamity.

Choruses of Cathartic Civilizations.
There’s a Crow. There’s Carolina Wren,
a Cow with what else? A Cow bell.
There’s South Carolina. Our whole Country
and there’s my Cool Cousin Christine.

In Consensus, we take note
of Concurrent Cantatas
with our Cultivated Canons.
We peer through the Cryptic Curtains.
We name every Colloquial Curly Cue.

Then, from our mouths and minds,
let them Cascade away
like dreams. Like Chariots.
.

Find my South Carolina State Park books: Here