Winter Solstice Eclipse

Winter Solstice Eclipse
by Chelsey Storey
& we were rocking without even knowing it. & we were eclipsed by our own shadows. & the purples & blacks swirl around each other, trying to seep into the stars, but they can’t. & the dying trees reach out their branches for help, but it is too late. It is winter already & we can’t stop the seasons, season is just another name for time. & we are halfway there. We are shining, & we are dark. We are pencils & lead & we are writing blindly. & I hope this hammock can hold our weight. Leaves clatter together like teeth & the veins on the tree are as bright as mine. & a car crashes into another a few streets down. & the neighbor’s dog barks & chimes clang in the wind. An eyelid opens, as another closes. & nothing matters & everything does. & there’s barely anything left, just a sliver. It’s so close, but the night takes it away, & it is gone. & there is nothing. & we wonder if there ever was anything.