By Tom Farris
Throughout the American embrace, begins the lunar solar play,
A celestial dance unfolds in the afternoon of a memorable April day,
Many centuries have waned since our total eclipse drifted past,
In America’s sky, this dramatic and eerie spell is once again cast.
People filling cities, towns, streets, and parks in twilight’s holy hush,
As the moon interweaves its cosmic astronomically predicted brush,
Citizens of the world eagerly await, experiencing today’s sacred scene,
Where the galaxy’s sun and Earth’s moon, in tandem, do convene.
An emotional pause quietly descends, the skies darken to impart,
Being a viewer of this rarely seen eclipse, really inspires one’s heart,
Beneath the darkening sky, we recall learned ancient scientific lore,
The total eclipse slowly reveals itself as daylight is visible no more.
As the eclipse cuts a path through the U.S., from Texas to Maine,
A dramatic dance of everchanging shadows, the eclipse entertains,
Throughout the many centuries, the cosmic clock always resets,
A spectacle seldom seen, a vision each observer never forgets.
In the unearthly quietude of this rare but returning cosmic quest,
America’s long-awaited tale of a total eclipse is eternally blessed,
As viewers from around the world share the sun’s ombre retreat,
A celestial ballet is being keenly choreographed, rare and sweet.
The heaven’s paint a canvas, in gray hues bright to dark then bright,
In the moon’s crescent scattering shadows, softly bathed in lunar light,
As people whisper to recall the glorious ages of generations past,
A moment reclaimed, our April 8, 2024, eclipse revealed at last.
From southwest to northeast, artistic shadows continue their sweep,
With Americans wishing and hoping, the total eclipse does keep,
In Mother Nature’s emotion-emitting grasp, a cyclical celestial rhyme,
Echoes from the journals ancient, marking forever celestial time.
Born in Wabash, IN, Thomas L. Farris / Word Artist, has lived in Muncie since 1962 – having starting a marketing consultancy and a research firm while in graduate school in 1967. Inside and outside of his profession, Tom enjoyed writing and art. His art has won numerous awards over the past 50 years. During the past decade, he has devoted more time to studying poetry and writing – creating many works. A goal with his work is painting pictures with words, so readers can better experience the work. Recent works include four poems about the April 8, 2024 Total Eclipse. His poetry addresses many topics, from humor and inspiration to grief, terminal illnesses and death. Farris is also active as an artist, sculptor and photographer. He spent many summers at Lake Wawasee. His wife, also an artist, is from Hammond and Munster, IN.
Northwest Indiana Literary Journal 