Eclipse

Once, in high school, I saw an annular eclipse.
I saw it a thousand times on the ground
like raindrops, a thousand rings of fire
cast by lenses of arboreal light. Each
like a gold coin spilled out by a long-
vanquished god who hid his blessings
in a scrambled clockwork of sun, moon,
earth, and sky to unwind long into ages
where all of his stories have unraveled
and taken other names, other nations.

I showed my friends the rings and each of us
took just what would fit in two open hands.