“Don’t you see? We’re the clouds, man.”
“I see you’re stoned.”
“Flung into the sky only to be pushed and bullied around by the wind, eventually burned away by the sun. Nebulous. Transitory.”
“And full of moisture.”
“Yeah, man. Spilling our tears onto the thirsty earth. Striking the ground with brief bouts of rage that echo for miles and then fade into deafening silence.”
. . .
“Pass the joint, dude.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
“So, then what are the mountains?
. . .
“Time, man.”
“Time?”
“And we’re floating just above time, hanging just above those jagged, sawtooth peaks that have been there for centuries. Fixed. Steadfast.”
“And full of Quartz.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
“Then what?”
. . .
“We glide over the mountains—”
“Over time.”
“Yeah, man. Glide gracefully, or not so gracefully. And only for a few, fleeting moments. That’s all we get before being blown over the horizon, eaten up by the teeth of those mountains.”
“The teeth of time.”
“Exactly, man.”
. . .
“Sounds like a bad band name.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
“Then what?”
“What do you mean, man?”
“After we’re gobbled up by the teeth of time, then what?”
. . .
“Nothing, man. Clouds just evaporate. Soon forgotten.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
“Then why?”
. . .
“Maybe there is no why, man. We just are, and then we’re not.”
“Like the clouds.”
“Yeah, man. Like the clouds.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
“Or maybe . . .”
. . .
“Maybe what, man?”
“Maybe we’re here to collect experiences, you know? Like clouds collecting moisture.”
“I follow, man. Billowing up with experiences.”
“Stretching high into the atmosphere.”
“Exploding into the stratosphere.”
“Until we’re so rich and heavy with experiences that they violently pour out of our lives in sheets of rain and cracks of lightning and gusts of wind.”
“Sheets of experiences cascading from the heavens.”
“Giving life to the trees that cover the mountains below. Our experiences watering time.”
“Cultivating time, man.”
“Sustaining time.”
. . .
“We’re here to experience experiences, man.”
“And keep time timeless.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
“This is some really good pot.”
“Yeah, man.”
Photograph and prose copyright Mike Yost 2016
[ hidden void photography ] 
A great picture! The light in the sky is brilliant, and you did very well on converting it to black and white!
Haha, well, that text though.. 🙂 Never thought of the sky, the mountains, and the horizon like that.
Cheers,
Tieme
Thanks! I’m glad you see clouds differently now! 🙂
🙂