Moderate Breeze
Irish hydrogapher and Royal Navy Officer, Francis Beaufort, devised
the Beaufort Wind Force Scale in 1805 while serving on HMS Woolwich.
It measures the force of wind using numbers 0 to 17. This offers precise
written images of the increasing strength of wind on land or at sea.
Infants come out a 7: Moderate Gale
sucking strongly inward—first breath: Whole trees
[or lungs] in motion
before wailing, then wanting
the woman who birthed them, picking up her scent
like voles rooting for dark targets. Soon
welcome rains come, milkdrops drip then gush.
Every beast needs something to calm their storms,
something to bring us down to Zero: Calm,
smoke rises vertically.
What is it about wind?
The scale is all over the place. The jostled man
on the subway stares down at some sort of forecast,
his expression getting darker. Perhaps
his boss or partner just texted because he went
from Fresh Breeze (a 5)
to Whole Gale (10)
where trees are uprooted;
considerable structural
damage occurs.
Monkeys come to mind when I see two
women swinging from the hanging straps,
small gift bags on their wrists, laughing
about the sale they scored on wireless bras
I give them a 2: Light Breeze, wind felt on face;
leaves rustle; ordinary weathervane
[or breasts] moved by wind
The nose of the first car
pierces tunnel air, we whiz past
a platform at solid 4: Moderate Breeze,
raising dust and
loose paper;
small branches
are moved,
which is how I felt just now
when you hugged our ailing Nana and whispered
everything will be alright, this storm
won’t last forever, and then her thin arms
like two small branches lifted moderately,
trying to return your love.
Fannings
small pieces: leftovers
after higher grades
are gathered to be sold—
rejects,
traditionally
when packaging
leaf-tea of high quality
in selling houses.
smaller fannings:
dusts—
rejects
broken
down
as if
to be
a fanning
was not
humiliating
enough
