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Eclipse


 


Yes, eclipses with their threat of permanent loss of light can remind us of how old stories tried to explain and prevent what must have been potentially terrifying.

Total loss of light, total loss of sight...

My poem juxtaposes, perhaps even blends, my experience of eclipse (I draw on the 1999 eclipse which was more powerful) with that of the blinding of an Old Testament hero.

Poor blinded Samson – brought down to Gaza, bound with fetters of brass, forced to grind in the prison house... the focus of derision. Until – 'suffer me that I may feel the pillars, that I may lean upon them' – momentarily empowered once again, he shared his own permanent darkness with his tormentors, bringing the world crashing down upon one and all.

An eclipse to end all eclipses.

 


I reflect on the exclusion of light – in my case partial and temporary; in his, total and perpetual.

Two voices, two very different endings.


Eclipse 

Birds fall silent at this false dusk.

As circles approach the edges of worlds

collide in a blur of first darkness.

An unusual coolness falls upon us.

 

You do not need to know the pain

when they were both put out.  There is

no darkness to approach that black

when light is lost forever.

 

Worlds travel on to overlap.

At the centre an oval that grows

a widening eye still out of sight.

Nothing so dark as the pupil itself.

 

You do not need to see the pillars

as bodies move apart.  I seized them

in a vision of destruction

and in bowing avenged the loss.

 

The light returns along with warmth.

From ends new starts are made.

Upon the pile of broken stones

a black bird starts to sing.





Comments

  1. Anonymous1 September 2026 at 12:17

    Beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous1 September 2026 at 16:24

    Trying to understand the italic paragraphs. Need help please. Will check here. For an explanation….

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1 September 2026 at 21:52

      I used italics to draw attention to the two voices speaking, Samson and the poet. Thanks for reading!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2 September 2026 at 11:59

      Splendid synthesis. These lines - There is

      no darkness to approach that black

      when light is lost forever -

      reminded me of the completely non-reflecting black used by Anish Kapoor to great effect in his exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous1 September 2026 at 21:34

    What an interesting juxtaposition, Richard. Beautifully written. And what about sun-worshippers like the Mayans whose priests threatened them with the possibility that the sun wouldn't rise in the morning unless there were blood sacrifices? What power.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7 September 2026 at 13:22

    Thank you - a really lovely poem, Richard, beautiful juxtaposition, illustrating how we take sight and light for granted.

    ReplyDelete

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