Laminar

On the wall, in an ornate fixture of darkening bronze, a gas jet burned, laminar and gently singing — adjusted to what scientists of the last century called a "sensitive flame": invisible at the base, as it issues from the orifice, fading upward into smooth blue light that hovers several inches above...

The laminar bands of color to the west bleeding out under the hammered clouds. A sudden violet-colored hooding of the earth.