Eclipse Over New Mexico

Nothing can stop the dogs
from barking, not even

the moon’s new dress.
The last time I saw the light change
like this, felt

the temperature
drop,

I lived 
in a different state,
loved

a different man. Who
is to say a corona is better
than a hole in the sky?

Don’t look it in the eye.

Until yesterday, I hadn’t known 
an eclipse was coming.
I wish nobody told me.

I wish I had, for once, been oblivious,
a woman standing in the long
unkempt grass of her life,

wildflowers at the backs of her knees,
questioning the temperature

of her skin.

It used to be like this. 
To not know 
more common than forecasts and maps.

If I had known the path my life
would take, would I
have allowed it? Or fought

as I am prone to.
Never a placid thing.

Always trying to burn to another side.