Damage Control

Terri McCord

“Anyone operating a vehicle should not be attempting to look up at the sky

during the eclipse – their eyes should be on the road,” said Aixa Diaz,

a spokeswoman from AAA. USA Today

How long         to bear

the silence

       what could be

a wholesale chromatic gloss

as if we are all

inside

our own private polaroid,

flicks of yellow light,

the first sighting of goldfinches,

not total darkness,

but this is a shared totality

that confuses the natural order,

nocturnal animals awake

and the birds and insects

quiet. We could buy our certified

glasses, pose for photos,

and still, the emergency rooms filled

up after. From inside, I watched

a van go by,

a second amendment sign

in its window.