The Weather

I wonder what we would talk about, if we could no longer talk about the weather

What other topics of conversation can you have with complete strangers that don’t begin with, “nice day” or “it’s cold out?”

What if the weather was neither good nor bad, it just was? And it was as constant as death so you could no longer say things like “hear a cold front’s coming through” because you would know.

What if there were no weather predictions or prophesies about the clouds coming in or the sun getting hotter?

What would we have to talk about?

You can’t talk about politics, you say something about being conservative or being liberal and you’re bound to offend someone at sometime.

You can’t talk about the government because some people want less and others want more and some want none at all.

I guess you could talk about movies. Movies are pretty safe, but then again you might like chic flicks and I might like art films. but then if you like Nicholas Cage he is in neither and if you do like Nicholas Cage well then I don’t really know what to say to you at all.

I guess you could talk about the stock market and whether you need a plunger for all the plunging that’s happening or a glass of champagne for all the money you’re making.

But let’s face it, I don’t really want to make small talk about the market, because then we’ll get into a discussion about capitalism, and greed, and I’ll probably disagree with you.

I guess we could talk about sports, that’s pretty neutral, but I know nothing about sports, so I’d probably make some comment about how that basket ball team needs to make more touchdowns.

Or maybe we could talk about something more personal and when I asked you how your day was going instead of responding, “well, the weather sucks,”

maybe you would be so vulnerable as to tell me about how you feel lonely, frustrated, like a bird trapped against a window,

and how you only wish you could break through the glass but those addictions got teeth into and you’re not sure if you’ll ever see sky again.

Instead of small talk we could make honest talk, but sometimes I get uncomfortable undressing in front of strangers.

Maybe we could talk about how our house needs more insulation or less, and how our closet door won’t shut right cause the damn hinges are broken.

But I think we need somewhere to direct our frustration

I think we need the clouds, whether they’re black and swirling, or white and twirling

I think we need days when it rains too much and days and days when the sun’s too hot and days when it’s so cold it feels like you could break the air with an axe.

Because sometimes, we just need to be able to say, this weather sucks.