After the Eclipse, the Blue Stars

 

Eclipse, slow, breathless, silent 

even the sparrows  are silent, the cat

pauses, round eyed like a statue of Bast, 

listening,  The Sun

the Sun is disappearing: 

the Great Dragon, or warring Gods 

are eating the Sun.  Shades of distant 

Ancestors watch in terror among their offerings,

their chanted prayers. 

 

But we just stop, 

pause to watch with awe, 

and unspoken, primal fear 

a great celestial event.  

 

And then slowly 

crescent suns appear on the pavement, 

flickering like silver coins  

announcing the return 

of the  generous, triumphant Sun. 

 

At night, quiet still remains, 

the Blue Stars appear,

singing their songs of magnitude, 

of suns 

birthing and dying 

on the black canvas of time,

On the ground, 

crescent shadows seem to  linger.

Lauren Raine 

April 8, 2024