by Claudia Gary

to NASA, on watching its Jan. 31, 2018 video 

You’ve added value to the moon’s eclipse.
With deep strings, faint marimbas, Luna slips
slowly away until severely narrow—
an orange-red sliver of blood and marrow—
the umbra, as you say. And then it’s gone!
But never fear, your music remains on:

This loop (63 seconds, on repeat,
of enigmatic tones that have no beat
but calm the heart) makes shadowed minutes fly,
although more tedious than a lullaby.

At last an arc of light teases the edge
of what was missing but not lost, to wedge
familiar crescent gold back into view,
as lovely as before, and to renew
a sense of hope and wonder, resolute
as … Mantovani? Next time, I’ll click “Mute.”