Storm clouds carry faces
so real I swear they speak:
be wary
do not squander fine days
remember happiness
You do not know the weather’s humours.
Their mouths twist to laughter,
then they are dogs,
curling away after their own tails
until howling and roiling, back they come,
forcing me to shelter
in a crashing deluge.
Yet in the street the lighthearted are dancing,
barefoot,
pant legs rolled,
filling buckets for the dry spells.
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“Shield your joyous ones” is borrowed from St. Augustine of Hippo:
“Watch, O Lord,
with those who wake,
or watch or weep tonight,
and give your angels charge
over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones,
O Lord Jesus Christ;
rest your weary ones;
bless your dying ones;
soothe your suffering ones;
pity your afflicted ones;
shield your joyous ones;
and all for your love’s sake.”
A Space to be Filled 
Powerful emotion conveyed through precise and striking imagery. And “two for the price of one” with the source of the title, the lovely prayer of St. Augustine, appended.
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Thank you. I was happy to find St. Augustine’s words and a way to use them.
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I love your poem. I would so be one of the ones with my trousers rolled up dancing and collecting the rain in buckets! I love being out in the rain. Such powerful imagery in so few words. Thank you for sharing the St Augustine words too. Beautiful and inspiring. Much love. Xx
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Thank you, Vicki! I appreciate my joyous ones 🙂 Happy dancing.
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