by David Hassler

Sun and Moon, bring us together,
all of us, sky watchers, stargazers
staring up, dreaming out
beyond ourselves. Let us wonder
at our clockwork universe and
witness your magical vanishing act.

We want to stand in the sweet spot,
aligned on the path of totality,
to watch as the Moon’s umbra flies
from Mazatlan to Newfoundland,
over Texas, Ohio, and Maine, gathering
our homes, schools, farmlands,
and rapt, upturned faces.
We want to converge with you,
disappear for a moment, crowned
with a gleaming, evanescent corona.

What diamond of insight can be revealed
as the Moon nibbles at the Sun’s edge,
while metallic, liquid light swims about,
fraying the corners of our blankets?
What can we see in the dark?

We humans are here on Earth to gawk,
to bear witness to the spectacular.
Teach us, Sun and Moon, to live
in alignment with each other.
Remind us our hearts are small cousins
of you, our home star, rhythmically
pulsing, expanding and contracting.
Guide us in your cosmic dance.
Pull us together along a shared path
to whoop and cheer at your beauty.