The Lunar Eclipse
I’ve been staying up very late, lately, until 4:00am. I heard about the recent lunar eclipse, to be seen in the night skies at 3:37am Pacific time, so I went outside alone at 3:15am.
No, back up.
A little after dinner that day, after dark had fallen, my father took me to our backyard and asked me what I could smell. I said, ” It’s something, some kind of plant.” ” Do you know what kind of plant?” he asked. ” No.” In the corner I discovered night jasmines, grown five or six feet high. My father wore a smile in his voice, ” They only bloom at night.” I hadn’t thought about it then, but that makes it a sort of loner plant, blushing beautiful only when no one is around, like the shy child who smiles only alone, and to the mirror. He said, ” You should stay up for the eclipse. You’re awake that late anyway.”
Okay.
I sat with a flannel over-shirt on, outside on our deck at 3:25am staring at the night sky. The moon was almost fully eclipsed, glowing a deep orange with only a slight dark crescent. I was falling asleep waiting for something more meaningful to happen and realized how few people were probably watching this event; even those awake to view it, like myself, were more than likely alone. A loner, lunar event. Available to all, but nobody cared.
And just then, feeling alone and small in sight of the cosmos, came the sweet smell of night jasmines.
Tagged as eclipse, jasmines, the moon + Categorized as Life
I wished it’d been happening in Europe too… I saw one lunar eclipse a few months ago and it felt like “she” said a slow goodbye, then hello again, but in between having a red passionate experience by “herself” yet shared with whoever ready to receive this gift…
thanks to the Jasmine, too…
Wow, really nice piece, man, very sad in a way but very well written.
except! that
someone made a facebook event for the eclipse, and over 40,000 people “attended”. I sort of hate facebook but I’m glad to have learned about it
yeah it’s the smallest things that really make a difference most of the time.
and i like this piece. there are so many beautiful things that go unnoticed. what a shame.