Lovely skies Dark with clouds and rain Leaden skies Lead, Pb, Plumbum Flat diffuse light, photographer's dream Latin 4 lead = plumbum We plumb our psychic oceans' depths, as the sailors did With lead on their sinker lines We plumb our depths if we choose When we are earnestly explorative Reflecting, meditating, in our psychic plumbing Pb: the ugly duckling brother of glowing gold Au of the aura Aurum Both are soft, malleable, unassailable, & so helpful Gold like Thor the glowing hero, lead like Vulcan the sooty artificer We have made one the hero, and misused, Demonized, besmirched the metal lead Is it lead's fault we have put it in our paint, our gas? That we made it accumulate in our fish, like fools? Without lead, your car would not start Imagine going on your trips on a mule Or trundling down the road in an ox cart Do not denounce lovely lead Gravid, protector, quiet engine starter Gently available to you to plumb your depths Before your chapter's demise Leaden skies Lovely skies Gravid with rain Keep me grounded, serene and sane