Sol Concealed

Sol Concealed

“How dare you block my blaze,” Sun said to Moon,

“it’s disrespectful.” Moon ignored his whining,

continuing to move before his shining

indignant visage. The sunny afternoon

was swiftly growing moonless, and the stars

popped up across the sky with Saturn, Mars,

beige Jupiter, white Venus (a dazzling dot)

and even Mercury (infrequent guest)

along with the Great Canine in the west  

(witnessed in the winter, not on hot

dog-day afternoons). Now Sun was seething

while we eyewitnesses were barely breathing. 

The wind grew cold, birds took a power nap,

the crickets started quavering, and we

stood round, gaping and goggling in Tennessee,

pondering this otherworldly gap, 

this discontinuation of the light.

Feeling effaced, Sun burned for a fiery fight.

What happened next was truly epoch-making.

Ceasing its mischief, by minute degrees

Moon slunk away. The world’s hostilities

ended at once. No longer bellyaching,

Sun shone again in all its awesome glory,

forgetting that all things are transitory.