by Suzán Jiván
Summer sun pours
into desiccated forest floors
unlike anything known before
as monsoons wash loosened soil
across huge herbivores
seasons before
along parched courses
for gaunt scavengers
performing the newfangled task
of stalking stall-fed animals
as women from many castes
carry empty pails
across degraded lands
in early signs
of being shortsighted
as certified outsiders
seen beneath intensified twilight
like a darkness that enlightens
while banishing daylight
against the darkened sky
with a fish eye
as unmatched masses of gasses
brandished by a time-lapsed
lunar shadow angled toward totality
in the conjunction
of an umbra and penumbra
as a conundrum covers the sun...
