2017/2024

There were two total eclipses,

and two times that we eclipsed each other,

and at least two other times that we could have crossed paths but didn’t.

I don’t mind if I miss this one. I see the sun every morning and the moon every night.

I’ll watch the next one.

But you tell me my next chance will be

in twenty years, and that I’m running out of time.

No, I say. My next chance is out there. It will just be somewhere else.

I tell you I can get on a plane and watch the sun over Greenland or Morocco.

I can go see the northern lights and the midnight sun and all the other things I’ve never seen before.

But then you tell me you weren’t talking about the eclipse — you were talking about future plans. Your future.

Ah, yes, I say. I understand. My next chance is out there. We’ll be under the same sun and moon, but you will be somewhere else.