Total Eclipse
The sleepless night was better than the waking day.
Ideas and the will to win…
In daylight come the real hills
Closing down,
Commanding me to cook the stew
And pay the bills.
Last night was some great night!!
I almost won.
Inside the dark, I found a kinship
With the flaming sun
And sent corona flares
To bud at Western
And the all-night weatherman
In Redwood City by the phone.
They talked eclipse
As interested and as excitement filled
As I.
Born out of loneliness in space,
Perhaps.
Aligned.
Less lonely, we eclipsed
At 2:00 am,
Far separated
Moon and earth and sun.
I loved those men, lined up with me
For one brief swing of Kepler’s laws!
But then this morning,
We’d the daylight crew
To feed us facts:
No planes at 15,000
Over Portland (or within 100 miles)
At 8:13 on Monday.
Did you want to book on 615 or not?
Why no: I guess not…
I have to make a stew for Papa who is 97
And won’t eat institution food.
I’ll have another chance in 2017
When I’m just 91.
February 25. 1976
Day before the total
Eclipse of the sun in
Portland
