Clouds are the quiet heroes of Victoria Skelton's "The flawlessness." They hover over a girl's life from ordinary days to big moments like storms and a first kiss. The refrain "They were always there" returns again and again, and it makes the clouds feel like a loyal friend who never leaves.
The speaker admires them. They shield her eyes from the sun, water the earth, and protect the grass. Even when there are too many and the sky goes dark, the poem forgives them, saying they are "only trying to hard." Then the wind turns them into birds and creatures, and the clouds become a kind of painting. The last lines suggest she is an artist, since the clouds give the characters in her paintings their shapes, sizes and shades. The mood is warm, gentle and grateful, with a sense of comfort in something so familiar that it is easy to overlook.