Eclipsed
We sit alone together in the Chinese restaurant
Between lunch and dinner, only a single occupied table,
A huge hispanic family seated in the center of the room,
They’re well nourished, well groomed, well dressed,
Accordioned white spun silk shirts & black shiny satin
dresses
having just come from a wedding, it seems,
Or maybe some giant faraway church, or maybe major grocery
shopping
kids noshing on everything from egg rolls to mar far sweet
& sour.
We are old & tired; the day has been long &
exhausting, not much accomplished,
The biggest news around is the full solar eclipse, not
another to be seen
For more than a decade anywhere on earth. For once, we have
landed an ideal
Viewing position. I stare out the huge plate glass window,
through which the colored
Light leeches irrelevantly as we speak. I wonder at the quietness of
space, empty sidewalks,
Sunday afternoon before memorial day Sunday & everyone no
doubt
at the m ountains now or on the beach, hoping for a view. We are space aliens
who have landed in this funky Chinese restaurant.
We now know there are many more varieties & dialects
than even this
20 page menu can contain, but are content to flip &
frown.
It is comical almost to watch the children well behaved at
table pray
“Gracias por el arroz frito y el fried shrimp”
items we no longer order, managing cholesterol.
No one here cares, apparently, about the alignment of heavenly bodies.
We are careful elders who barely catch a glance, except for
the waitress,
Whose slim figure in polky dot A line is arresting, &
who
Culturally recalls how to respect her elders, as we are
wise, & probably
Better tippers than the young. The sky outside is graying fast, like a giant
cloud cover
passing, the solar eye a lidded stare. We both stare at one
another under pure
fluorescent light,
Too tired to even think to go outside.
I guess the solar eclipse is in full swing, I manage.
Yes, the light looks pretty dull out there you reply. We stare again
At the menu; our waitress arrives, recognizing &
recalling us.
As the room fades, her her face lights up.
“One singapore
One happy family, white rice!”
