read write prompt #15: storm front moving in

by Carolee Sherwood

I grew up in Northern Maine where we claimed ownership of the phrase: “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” We had two seasons: winter and Fourth of July. We consulted The Farmer’s Almanac and the width of stripes on caterpillars to know how much snow we’d have. We believed the number of blue eggs in a robin’s nest told us how long the warmer seasons would last. We had a really tall, goofy meteorologist who guided his large hand in an exaggerated arc toward the ground when the temperature fell “beee-lowwwww the donut” (subzero).

For this Read Write Prompt, if you want, write a poem about the weather. Your inspiration may be a weather event (tornado, drought, blizzard, heat wave, downpour, hurricane, thunderstorm, flood) where you grew up or where you live now or even somewhere around the world that impacts you.

Weather-related lore or legend or superstition may spark an idea for a poem.

The weather in your poem doesn’t have to be wild weather; maybe you see clear, blue sky or puffy clouds or sunshine with the perfect intensity of light and warmth.

As you think about some of your life’s stories and experiences, do you remember an event that was ruined by the weather? Were you ever snowed-in with someone? An enemy? A lover? Did you ever do anything to thumb your nose at the weather, like a take a polar dip in an icy lake or play barefoot in the pouring rain?

What do you think about when you’re inside quietly looking out the window at the day and its weather?

For an extra challenge, as though you were a mystery writer avoiding opening with “It was a dark and stormy night,” fight with all your might against the cliches inherent in writing about the weather. Steer clear of “a season for everything” and the obvious life and death-cycle metaphors in the changing seasons. Avoid “avalanches of paperwork” and “raining cats and dogs.” I can’t list them all here, but you know cliches when they pop up in your writing.

I’m looking forward to Monday’s Get Your Poem On post to see what cliche-free weather poems blow in! (Of course, feel free to be a rebel and completely ignore the prompt and write what you want or — for shame! — use a weather-related cliche to your advantage.)