Eclipse Poem

This eclipse is wilder than many realize.

Eclipse Poem

An ocular eclipse occurs
every time you blink
and the whole world slides through
its path of totality
despite the brief duration.
There’s nothing to fear.
It’s neither witchcraft
nor an abomination
when our eyelids fall
and rise, briefly bathing all
in darkness.
It’s simply nature’s way
of moistening our eyes.
For the seeable plane
is a horridly dry place
of blurred structures,
and relatively elevated levels
of eyeball wetness
sharpen the edges
of its images, flush dust,
distribute nutrients
to our gazers, and lubricate
the insides of our eyelids
so they don’t scratch
our corneas when they close
to block projectiles.

Such eclipses
are also baptismal
echoing the microbial
origin of all life
when not just eyes
but every organ
performed, and every breath
and heartbeat thundered
in the dark, underwater.