Robert Bly wrote a poem about an eclipse in Maine.
We just had one in here in Texas and,
fresh in my mind,
It is too good not to mine for useful analogy.
Just as the sky dragon began to eat the sun disk,
The birds were really unsettled, noisy, and restless.
Just as a Titan seized the sun chariot,
You could only hear the wind in the trees.
Just as the great fish of the world ocean swallowed the sun,
He prepared to disgorge it.
Then as the sky blackened until it seemed as midnight,
The birds grew almost eerily silent.
It was a moment of mystery and beauty.
When we encounter a creeping darkness,
There is always a lot of restlessness and chattering
That continues until things are completely dark.
Only, unlike the eclipse, we stand silent in the darkness,
Not sure that the light will ever return,
But it does.
And so does the chattering.
So when the light in your life is totally obscured
And it appears as the blackness of the totality moment,
Wait, the chattering will begin again.
Ignore it, and focus instead on how welcome,
The return of the light feels.
It’s not done. It’s not over.
Is always only an eclipse
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