The Weatherman

His enthusiasm for his job

leaps through the screen

as he smiles and talks about

the newest snowstorm

that’s going to wreck

your morning commute.

His glee for hurricane-force winds

that will knock you off your feet

fall gently on your ears as he issues

his “small pet warning”

but even your cat doesn’t care

about its inevitable doom of being blown away.

His intensity for the spring floods

can be seen by his emphatic hand gestures

to let you know how serious it is

to be down by the river

and that you need to watch

your kids and your dogs near there.

It makes you wonder if he sits

in the passenger seat and just stares

at the sky whenever he has to get anywhere,

and whether the driver ever knows

any peace or whether they now know

every type of cloud in the sky and what that means

to the weatherman.

Big Horn Mountains, August 2019