Abandonment
by Catherine Harnett
The old are on the roof; perhaps their last
chance to see the moon pass between the sun
and them. On a cool April afternoon they wear
paper spectacles to see the spectacle
passing through San Antonio, Cleveland,
Mazatlán. Here, we aren’t in total blackness;
it’s just a fingernail of sun, a sudden quick
cold wind in the almost- dark. Then the
interloping moon moved on.
Four short years from now, millions will flood
The Zone where day submits to night and sun
opens up again; next time in ancient Luxor,
at Karnak, at the Temple of Hatshepsut.
As for Good Friday when the sky went dark
from noon to three: some say the sky eclipsed,
but it was impossible. The moon was full, dark
lasted far too long; astronomers saw nothing special
in the heavens. It was just another miracle:
when His son’s last breath was breathed,
God raised the curtain, fiat lux, returned the
light He’d made on the first day.
Back when, Babylonians swapped real kings
with impostors who died blind; Mohammad
denied an eclipse triggered his son’s death.
Once it was believed that bears and dragons,
a mischievous black squirrel chewed
up the sun. Celtic priests foretold
arrival of the solar guest, carving news of
the abandonment on cairns Five Thousand
years ago; and stone chambers where, to this
day, the ancient sun illuminates Samhain
and Imbolc.
We’re just the latest throng looking up at the perilous sun,
at the vacant moon. RV’s assemble for the show, picnics
and lawn chairs, anchormen tracking paths like they
do at Santa-time.
The old on rooves are certain they’ll be gone next time
around, carpe diem; perhaps by then Luxor will be razed
by war, wherever that place is.
Catherine Harnett is a poet and fiction author originally from New York. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She's authored three poetry books, and her fiction appears in The Hudson Review and other publications. Her professional background includes decades of service in the Department of State, Department of Justice, and on Capitol Hill. Currently, Catherine lives in the DC area.
