The wind has stopped blowing.
The dogs have stopped barking.
The thunder and lightning have taken their leave.
The rain has stopped pouring.
The birds have stopped squawking.
The calm, like a blanket, descends on the world.
The city is sleeping.
My heart is still beating.
Softly, for fear of disturbing the peace.
Luke Howard was a pioneer of climate studies, in 1802 proposing a classification of clouds in his Essay on the Modification of Clouds. In it he gave us the terms cirrus, for “curl of hair”, cumulus meaning “heap”, and stratus, for “layer”. Read more about him on the Science Museum website.