eclipsed

Eclipsed

We sit alone together in the Chinese restaurant  

5 o’clock, the dead zone in the western world, a hollow space

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 chow fun!

One happy family, white rice!”