Joshua Sutherland Allen

Joshua Sutherland Allen

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Supermoon Eclipse



A strange ritual we enact, my wife and I,
A rite not to be repeated for eighteen years,
And not having been done
Since the early days of our lives
In 1982, to be precise:
Driving around the countryside,
Looking, and praying,
If praying is the right word,
For clouds to dissolve and disappear
So we can watch the moon disappear,
Turned red and eaten away
By our own shadow,
Projected two hundred and fifty thousand miles
Through vacuous space and Van Allen belts
To swallow the reflected lunar light
In its darkness.

The clouds that cover the moon
Disperse in time for us to see
The moon re-covered by our own earthly image.
We watch it a while,
And then drive home,

Through streets crowded with fellow watchers –
Neighbors who never have known each other
Until this night,
When a shadow draws us together.

5 comments:

  1. Oh, I love that last line!

    Cloudy here in So Nevada last night, too. A few glimpses, but that's about it.

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  2. lovely how it connects.. it's and interesting occurrence, and I saw it a bit.

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  3. What a timely poem :D
    Excellent write.

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  4. Beautifully written! I love both what you say and the feeling you create around it.

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  5. So cool, to be watching it a second time with your wife!!!! I love this, Joshua.

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