Eclipsed

Here's a poem I wrote a couple of summers ago. This was actually for a country-wide 'Vintage-Inns' competition - the poem had to mention one of their summer ales. In this I chose 'Sunchaser' which instantly made me think of an eclipse. Won the local heat with it - yay!

The seconds tripped off of frowns,
The waiting masses saturated in anticipation for the event that was yet to occur

The air seemed to condense; asphyxiate
Taking hold of their contemplation and twisting it,
Wringing out every last drop; breathlessness and heavy to the last

Some stood up:
A silent salute to what might happen next



And then it did

A waterfall of adrenaline;
Light burrowing amongst the dark at the Badgers Sett,
A menagerie of sound and colour and heat escaping into the void of the sky above

Backs straightened, more rose as if magnetised by the two disks
Impossibly Majestic as they were;
Two Gods of the solar system drawing swords for battle,
Feverish in their existence and total in their awesomeness

A drawing of breath,
A collective gasp
As the red-blooded predator was slowly devoured
in front of their eyes

For a solitary moment, the Icy God seemed to smile at them;
Delirious in its victory,
Hollow in its guilt



And then it was over

A creek of light whispered out, tumbling down
Onto the patrons below,
Expelling the drama of the last few minutes into one breathless relief

For now, it was finished
But for how long?

No one knew when the Sunchaser would be back.