When the Wind Blows
When the wind blows you remember an out take of a scene from the grainy sepia parts of The Wizard of Oz
And you find you are only slightly braver than the child who watched the film, scared of the parts you already know, scenes you’d seen a hundred times
Scared in new ways, of old things
Strange things like flying monkeys, houses on legs shod in red sparkly shoes, and spinning things
When the wind blows you remember that it won’t last forever
The wind and the rain and the storm and the grey
You remember the Psalms and the promises
And old poems written about the wind years ago
An alphabet of hurricanes ago, 2013, now life-times ago
Time measured by storms
And you find that every promise held
Just as was spoken and written
Every anchor metaphor was not a metaphor after all
But a Holder, a Counter-Weight and a Calmer of the Seas
As you held on to your dreams
Of words and poetry
You were held
And as you are holding tighter still to the days that follow the storm
And realize you are no longer scared
Of old things in new ways
Or the new ways of old things
That used to scare you
Now you are brave
When the wind blows
elizabeth w. marshall 