bluegatereview

On the eleventh day of August
nineteenninetynine
after the frenzy of anticipation
in the news, in science class, in coffee rooms
the very last totality
of the twentieth century
presents itself at last

But we could not go to Cornwall
and in London – not so total
the sun is not blacked out or even dimmed
The neighborhood is buzzing:
out in the front gardens
we all hold up black bin liners to stare
at the advertised spectacular event
“The sun is just a little chewed”
the disappointed children say
They toss the bin liners aside
and go inside for more exciting ventures:
they build with lego, fight
over the last of the sun cookies
baked specially for the event
We were warned before, by scientists
and now we too have seen
the difference between
a partial eclipse and total
is  e v e r y t h i n g
The smiling last sun cookie, on the other hand
will not be all or nothing; it is shared

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