black hole sun
Jeremy Paden · Appalachian review · 2022
black hole sun Jeremy Paden (bio) excellent, let's talk about the stars, Luis,let's talk about lights & their satellitesway up in the sky, & let's talk about your namethat comes from luster, from something bathedin light, like the moon or like a clear nightdressed up in a petticoat of spikenardoh satellite, satellite of love, there,high in the night sky, colored like a plum—we walked out with naked feet on the frostyground of the garden at 4 in the morningto watch the moon, as that shadow passed, blushfrom a solar hug, thank you for the metaphor,the early hour brought to mind when my wife& kids & a friend of our daughter & Ileft Lexington before sunrise to arrivein Hopkinsville just after first lightbecause on that 21st of August, minutesafter midday, a pas de deux was to beginthat would culminate at 1:24 pmwith a sun completely darkened by a 3minute kiss, like that long, slow kissbetween Ingrid Bergman & Cary Grantin Notorious that mocked the Hays Codes—hundreds of us had gathered in the field& all of us were left breathless, my parents,who had driven 10 hours to be with us,responded to that sacred spectacleby singing psalms once they had their voice—yes,of course, these are utterly natural forces,this attraction that keeps star & satellite,planet & moon in orbit, that work to line up [End Page 37] these 3 enormous bodies, they are undeniablycommon, everyday & outright holy—I remainedsilent, agape, to quote your namesake(that gardener & school teacher LudwigWittgenstein), when faced with what wecannot name, silence... eclipseshave their fan clubs, their Dead Heads,who go from show to show chasingthe high, & I wonder, how many faithfulwill have congregated today, December 4,in the Antarctic, how many pilgrimswill have made the journey to witness the kiss,that moment when the moon dresses upin the ring of fire of that black hole sun [End Page 38] Jeremy Paden Jeremy Paden was raised in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. He is a poet, translator, and professor of Latin American literature at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He is the author of four collections of poems. Among these, ruina montium, about the 2010 Chilean mine collapse, has been published in both English (Broadstone Books, 2016) and Spanish (Valparaíso, 2018). He is also the translator for various poets from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain. Copyright © 2022 Berea College