Illustrated by DALL-E in the style of Hokusai.

Part I

The last cloud fox was the first,
The best, the only, the worst.
Two winds of change
Met a cloud shaped strange
And out of the storm he burst.

The last cloud fox was a flash
Of tooth and tail with a dash
Of whispered luck
And whiskered pluck
Quick chased by thunder’s crash.

The last cloud fox was alone
For a beat before being blown
To a mountain top
Where the whole world stopped
To meet one of heaven’s own.

Part II

The last cloud fox had a view
Of all below, even you,
And still stepped down
To foreign ground
To make his grand debut.

He sniffed the wormy dirt,
Alive for all it’s worth,
And though it loved
Rain from above
Fox put them on alert.

The worms and woods sniffed back,
They breathed his wispy track,
“Why has a cloud
Come to us now
And how shall we attack?”

Part III

“The last cloud fox need a name,”
Purred the mountainous domain
To break the spell
Of fight that swelled
When something different came.

Out stepped a stony lion
From somewhere dark, defiant,
And touched her nose
To fox as foes
Turned friends for simply trying.

The sky and earth both boomed
As each the other bloomed,
Realm crossed realm
With more at the helm
Than looming gloom and doom.

Part IV

The last cloud fox was not born
In a place where names were worn,
So they called him Sky
Even as he tried
To join the earthly sworn.

Rain puddled at Sky’s paws,
Mountain lion licked his claws,
And then she called
Worms, woods and all
To bring seeds and pleased applause.

They soaked their seedling toes
Before running off to grow,
The sweetest love
Came from above
For seeds rain had never known.

Part V

The last cloud fox saw the need
In their long dried out seeds
For a loving flood
So he turned to mud
And saw their flowers freed.

The last mud fox was a clue
That the last cloud fox pursued
As he tumbled down
Until the ground
Gave way to gathered dew.

The last creek fox crashed on
Till the mountains were long gone,
Then past the docks
The last sea fox
Swam with the fish and prawns.

Part VI

The last cloud fox left the floor
Of the sea like he’d been before,
Sky clouded up
And spilled his cup
Out on the mountain’s shore.

He rained again and again,
Bringing water on the wind,
Running fast and free
From sky to sea
While seeing all his friends.

That stony lion always stood
In wait with the thirsty woods
For the earthly walks
Of the last cloud fox
To return that loving flood.

Illustrated by DALL-E in the style of Hokusai.