ECLIPSE By ... Steve Lucky

               ECLIPSE
          By ... Steve Lucky

When Earth comes between the sun and moon,
Moonlight is blocked by the shadow of Earth.
For a few hours it gives one an idea
Of how much moonlight is actually worth.
Solar eclipses are rarer than lunar ones
Because a smaller area is effected
When sunlight is totally blocked by the moon.
Eclispes can be predicted but not selected.
They happen when the time is right
Without being slowed, hurried, caused, or halted.
Planets and stars can be eclipsed too.
Modern astronomers are sometimes faulted
For failing to predict are eclipse,
But ancient astronomers paid a greater price.
Incorrect predictions sometimes meant death
At the hands of superiors not very nice.
Since eclipses were rare they were often associated
With world alternating events.
Earth remains in motion with or without them
Yet the time of an eclipse can still be quite tense.

Copyright 2001, Steve Lucky