Helios Obscured

                                                      
                                                     Today           the moon-goddess       
                                                swallowed                  the sun.          
                                           Selene's pallid face                           
                                       eclipsed her brother's                               
                                  blazing chariot,       leaving                            
                              us in           unexpected                                    
                          twilight.           Icarus                                        
                      flying too close,                                                      
                  scorched wings       suddenly                                              
              cooled          in midday                                                      
          darkness.                 Startled,                                                
       we look up,         shading                                                        
     mortal eyes       against                                                          
   the blotted-out                                                                    
  brilliance.             For a                                                       
cosmic breath,                                                                    
she holds day       captive                                                        
in her celestial                                                                   
maw,        briefly becoming                                                        
an eater of light.                                                                 
Gods play       at                                                                 
unmaking the world                                                                 
while we watch,                                                                    
  uncomprehending -                                                                  
     then slowly,                                                                       
       the light returns,                                                                 
         liberated from                                                                     
            the moon's black hole                                                              
               jaws        to illuminate                                                          
                   our earth once more.                                                               
                        Myths made manifest                                                                
                              in a midday midnight.                                                              
                                 The universe's                                                                     
                                      unseen clockwork         turns,                                                    
                                           revealed when        the sun                                                       
                                                vanishes         before                                                            
                                                      our wondering eyes.

In the realm of myth, where gods and celestial bodies intertwine, we find the tale of Helios and Selene, siblings divine. Helios, the radiant sun god, drives his fiery chariot across the sky each day, illuminating the world below with his golden rays. His sister, Selene, is the goddess of the moon, her gentle light holding sway over the night.

In the poem, we witness a moment when these ancient stories come to life, as Selene eclipses her brother, swallowing his light in her celestial maw. It's as if the old tales have awakened, stirring from their slumber to dance across the heavens.

The poem also whispers of Icarus, the boy who dared to fly too close to the sun, his wings melting in the heat of Helios' gaze. In the strange twilight of the eclipse, we can almost see him, suspended in the coolness of midday darkness, a reminder of the perils of hubris.

These mythic figures weave in and out of the poem like half-remembered dreams, blurring the lines between the mundane and the divine. The eclipse becomes a cosmic dance, a play staged by the gods themselves, while we mortals watch in awe, our eyes straining to comprehend the wonders unfolding above us.

In this moment, the universe reveals itself, its unseen clockwork made manifest in the disappearing sun. We are reminded of our smallness, our fleeting existence in the face of the eternal dance of heavenly bodies. The myths we tell, the stories we spin, are but echoes of this greater truth, whispers of the mysteries that surround us.

As the light returns, slowly liberating us from the strange spell of the eclipse, we are left with a sense of having brushed against something infinite, a glimpse of the divine in the midst of our earthly lives. The myths may fade back into the realm of story, but their power lingers, a reminder of the magic that lurks just beyond the veil of the everyday.