Fluffy Clouds

This is a poem about love and precious moments experienced with Aunt Lennie and her family. In the beginning of the poem, the author says, "Aunt Lennie's heart fluttered those last three years", where he means that aunt Lennie was spending her last three years of life enjoying life before she went to heaven (Wallis, "Family"). Her heart fluttered like the butterflies flutter around a garden. She was busy like a bee as she “continued to cook and quilt” (Wallis, "Family"). The author notes that aunt Leanie is carrying and taking care of her “precious rows of her garden” (Wallis, "Family"). The garden being a metaphor for her family and loved ones and she took precious care of them, like any great grandmother would by providing words of wisdom and being oh so gracious in her own way. Aunt Lennie’s love for life and the world was so great that birds praise her and “sang hymns” at all times of the day. To sing once a day is a lot of work and to sing at all times of days is something special and uncanny; but, this is no surprise that everyone wanted to enjoy time with aunt Lennie. The author says, “We bent to weed and share an occasional remark ” meaning that in this wonderful day of many wonderful days they shared a moment together and it was quiet, yet beautiful. At this point in the poem you can vividly imagine the days were long and beautiful, filled with birds chirping throughout the day; you can almost hear the laugher and joy in the air as the long Kentucky day went on, where they have beautiful clear blue skies in “the stillness of lanky evening” (Wallis, "Family").

These precious moments are the memories the author has of his aunt Lennie. The author desperately searches for “dependable letters” from her aunt (Wallis, "Family"). He wants to reminiscent of the great found memories of her. The author says “how clearly I see her now, bent in sunlight” to show that her aunt was so strong and magnificent and bright and cheerful as arch of the sunlight, which stretches for miles over the horizon. The author remembers how good it was to “be young in her garden” (Wallis, "Family"). I can’t help but to visually this song “The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds” as I think of the author thinking about this past. Here is a snippet of the song:

What were the skies like when you were young?
They went on forever and they, when I, we lived in Arizona
And the skies always had little fluffy clouds
And they moved down, they were long and clear
And there were lots of stars at night

And when it would rain it would all turn, it, they were beautiful
The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact
The sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire
And the clouds would catch the colors everywhere
That's neat, 'cause I used to look at them all the time when I was little
You don't see that

This poem reminds me of how memorable his childhood was, just like the song. The author says that he felt love “in those early flights” meaning that he was child just learning about life and how to live/fly (Wallis, "Family"). You are innocent at this stage in life and