In a world where time bends and seasons blur, poetry becomes a bridge between what is, and what could be.
Autumn Williamsā "Clouds on the Ground takes" you on a lyrical journey that explores the intersection of natural beauty, and the realm of dreams.
As the collection unfolds, it reveals intricate layers of meaning, speaking to the universal human journey through love, loss, hope, and renewal.
In a world where time bends and seasons blur, poetry becomes a bridge between what is, and what could be.
Autumn Williamsā "Clouds on the Ground takes" you on a lyrical journey that explores the intersection of natural beauty, and the realm of dreams.
As the collection unfolds, it reveals intricate layers of meaning, speaking to the universal human journey through love, loss, hope, and renewal.
1.
In my dreams
the wind
promised to stay
I woke up
to stillness
Alone
I looked
out my window
and saw
stars
2.
Do I exist?
There is so much fog hereā
and no words
spoken
Did I fade?
Am I just
dreaming?
3.
Rain fills
the silence
time left
behind
4.
It was cold
that day,
and I wasnāt expecting itā
-
the marking of an end
to an old life
-
A part of me
that seemed impossible to lose
was goneā
there was never even a thought
that it could go
-
It was so quiet
that day
-
I didnāt know,
-
as I walked
slowly
through those hours,
-
how the memories
from that day
would become
permanent
in my mind
5.
I want to write this way and
let my words
hang
in the air,
like you told me not to
6.
As love multiplies,
so does fearā
of danger,
pain,
loss
-
Despite this,
we keep on loving
-
It is the reason
why we live
7.
The wind traveled
farā
reaching into tomorrow
Did you hear it?
8.
I went looking
for a place
that I had never been beforeā
-
somewhere quiet to walk
by myself,
with no memories attached
-
I found a park
with clearings
between the trees,
covered in soft grass,
and a long bridge
connecting two ponds
-
I imagined,
as I crossed the bridge
from water to water,
that I was
-
escaping
-
into a different time
9.
Reaching
I kept rotating
until I was spinningā
looking for the right direction
I became so dizzy
I had to stop
10.
The leaves fell off the trees
yesterday
None of them are left
The wind took them
11.
I drove to a city
covered in sand
I wanted to stay
but there wasnāt
enough
rain
to keep me there
12.
Time folds
in on itselfā
too fast
and too slow
-
It stands in my way,
forcing me to look at itā
to confront it
-
It is somehow everything,
and nothing,
all at the same
time
13.
I found you in the pages
of a story
in my mind
14.
Clouds on the Ground
Drifting moments,
-
unable to sleep
-
To try and fly into dreams
is impossibleā
-
the gravity in my mind
is too heavyā
-
pulling me down
-
I need a place
away from here,
-
to
escape
-
the restless waiting
-
I create clouds
on the groundā
-
soft
-
and surroundingā
-
welcoming me into darkness
and relief
15.
There is
escape
in dreaming
16.
Waking
I feel heavy
and light
These moments are spent aloneā
drifting
into forced daydreams
to find refuge
17.
I can walk
in poetryā
return
to places
I canāt reach
18.
DĆ©jĆ VuĀ
I went looking
for tomorrow
-
The path
I took
felt like a songā
-
suspended
and familiar
as a faded memory
-
falling
-
behind me
19.
What is past
where the green turns to blue?
-
Itās so far
-
I could fly there
in my dreams,
-
and find a resting place,
-
hidden
among the endless mountains
20.
The trees here
blossom,
not with flowers but with
branchesā
-
extending outwardā
-
embracing
the wind
21.
I tried to hold
a memory
in my arms,
-
but when I reached out
there was only air,
-
and I felt
-
so empty
Autumn Williamsā debut full-length poetry collection Clouds on the Ground promises āPoems on Time, Loss, and Dreamsā. Williams begins the introduction of the collection by revealing that in 2021 she suffered severe setbacks from a medical condition known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). She goes on to explain that at times she was āin bed, barely able to moveā and would find mental refuge in visualizing herself flying amongst the clouds. When the mental fatigue was too great to imagine flight, Williams would bring the clouds down to the ground, hence the title of the collection. The book is segmented into five sections that traverse the seasons, beginning in Fall and concluding at the end of the next Fall.
Williamsā deft economical use of language and skillful imagery within these poems immediately immerse the reader within an almost palpable cloud of her making. A somewhat haunting cloud that is not confined to a bed but committed to roving through the cities and forests of our earth, hearts and minds, pausing briefly to observe and question time and self, love and loss, along the way. There is a surreal element driving this book, something slightly askew that completes it. The fact that the sections traverse 1 Ā¼ years (from the beginning of one Fall to the end of the next Fall) is an atypical and brilliant addition. Not a whole, but a continuum. These are not neat little packages giftwrapped on bumper stickers to give to the kids, but words and turns of phrase and snippets of being that reel us in and open our minds. There is almost a Taoist poetry feel to these pieces, but thatās not quite right, it doesnāt fully credit what Williams manages to pull off. Somehow, she holds the ethereal and utterly grounding in near-perfect balance while unweaving the murky mystery within us.
I greatly enjoyed reading this collection and will return to it often. There are still things I need to converse with here. Things we probably all, in our own way, need to converse with. But thereās something else, something Iām not sure how to (or if I even should) speak to. I didnāt read these poems in one sitting. A person could read them in one sitting, but I didnāt. Iāve gone back to this collection after finishing it. And each time, while immersed in its pages, I feel a strange calmness come over me. No matter what my state of mind happens to be, these poems physically ground me while stimulating my imagination. Iām a person who hesitates to use a term like āmagicalā to refer to anything, but that may be the best word for what Iām trying to say here.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā