Heavenly Body
on watching a lunar eclipse
Burnished at first,
then blemished—
an earthly foreshadowing.
Then bearded
for a while.
Then pillow-cased
or gunny-sacked
like a Wonderland
white rabbit, one hind–
quarter sticking out.
Then cataracted: shiny
eye occluded at 10.22
with a thin grey-flannel
film; then smudged
with a thumbprint
of tombstone lichen.
And soon illumination
is resuming,
under the orange-gold
coating that mirrors the color
of the Falling trees
it floats above. Then
at 10.33 just a dusting left
of planetary pollen
on the lower extremities.
And, at the mellow tone,
10.40, we return
to our regularly scheduled
heavenly body.
Colin Goedecke
Central Park West, New York City
October 2004
