Eclipse as Ripple

You will barely notice it here,
merely a gradual dimming
In the middle of the day, A dulling of color
for a few minutes.
Unless you are looking for it,
it will pass without notice.

But across the ocean
it will be come dark. Bird will grow quiet.
There will be unease
despite our certainty of science,
our spirits will shudder for just a moment

And we will better understand Pharoh’s disquiet
as the sun of history darkened
and God’s people grew one plague closer
to Exodous.

And there it is. Eclipse as ripple
through time and space.
Nothing as sure as it seems
and all of us just a world’s turn
from spectacle, catastrophe or love.

About this poem.

Inspired by a text this morning from a parishoner warning me to be careful with the eclipse that happens today. Here in Vermont, it will only be 24%, hardly noticable. For my son and his fiance traveling in Spain, it will be total and they have their spot picked out to see it in it’s fullness. And tonight in my bible study, I happen to be teaching about the plagues upon Egypt leading to the Exodous.

And that my friend, is how poetry happens.

Tom