Wednesday, July 20, 2022

TOTAL ECLIPSE ON THE BIG ISLAND, JULY 11, 1991


On the Big Island, in the City of Refuge, 
how we all stood at attention, saluting the morning sun 
as the mist parted, and we watched the bright orb 
slipping into a nightgown of stars. 
How we gasped as the stars reasserted their raiments 
and the goddess was well pleased with her handiwork. 
The black flower of the sun blossomed 
in the wilderness of the sky as the moon covered her face, 
and the solar flares became petals, a corona of fire.
Oh how we were rendered speechless, 
uttered primal guttural phrases as Bailey’s Tears 
dripped stringed pearls of light into the darkness. 
During totality, you could see with the naked eye 
the silhouette of the mountains of the moon.
And time itself stood still. Even the raucous wind fell silent.
And when the fabled Diamond Ring appeared, 
the couple on the beach, draped in feathered cloaks,
exchanged vows and leis. It was either a good time 
or a very foolish time to get married. And why not?
The moon and the sun continued their odd love affair
and the confused birds all went back to sleep.
The waves stopped conversing, the wind and fell silent.
I sat in a tidepool where bright fish gathered,
cloaking me with their yellowed brilliance 
that faded into grey in the darkness, I held them 
in my arms as if I were the madonna of fishes, 
while sea turtles hovered like islands or planets.
I took the flower from my hair, a night blooming cereus, 
and let it go into the sea, waited for the light to return.

7/20. Write On! with Terri Glass

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