Final Eclipse - Fran Claggett-Holland

[Lawrence Robinson]

 Final Eclipse
 
         I
That first eclipse
shuttered the sun
its colors purpled
the skydark air
stars trembled
and the people 
stood still
         
        II
when the sun 
disappeared 
during the hunt
the mastodon
found refuge
in the wide open 
space
 
the people watched 
the mountain
fall into the water 
as the penumbra 
darkened the plain
between the shadow
of the moon
and the hidden sun
 
birds searching
for their nests
swept the sky 
in great scarves 
of ravened geometry 
and the people
covered their eyes
 
   



      III
eons later
what does it matter
to know that exotic particles
operate against the wishes
of gravity
when you see
the world
you have lived in 
all these years 
darken 
before your eyes
 
you scan
the sky for birds
but they have all 
flown toward the moon

and you know
you are 
completely
inextricably    
alone

	- Fran Claggett-Holland