Total eclipse of the sun next week
On the other side of the Atlantic
the sun will wrap a halo around
the moon's shadow.
I'll just imagine it
and settle for falling stars from a comet's tail,
grains of sand
on fire in the heavens.
A Tinsley telescope
is my giant spyglass in the night.
Light years away,
galaxies, star clusters,
a great gaseous donut;
birthplace of a star?
And all the time we're looking
at what used to be.
Outside I can't help but look up.
The Big Dipper points me north,
to Polaris.
How can it go on and on forever?
Or does it just stop?
7th grade
August 1999