Alex wanted a poem about a thundercloud shaped like a tiger that comes alive and eats cities.
Cumulus clouds are the little white fluffy ones
Cumulonimbus is tall, and brings storms
Cirrus, high up, is like tiny white feathers
It’s easy to learn all the different forms
Fog is a cloud that is touching the ground
And then contrails are clouds that an aeroplane leaves
Some clouds might look just like cities or dragons
But these are just ways that our eyes can deceive.
But cumulotigris is something quite different
This is a cloud that is also a cat
And if weather conditions bring one to your city
There’s not very much you can do about that.
Cumulotigris, enormous and stripy
Spits great bolts of lightning and blocks out the sun
There are not many photographs of it in textbooks
When meteorologists see one, they run
A hurricane might cause a great deal of damage
But cumulotigris, more dangerous by far
Can swallow up cities in one single bite
If it’s on the horizon, then get in the car.
Sometimes nature is frightening, that’s understandable:
Don’t let anxiety lead to despair:
There is one thing that’s nice about cumulotigris
It is, thank the heavens, incredibly rare.
Tom Juniper Poetry 