A Total Lunar Eclipse Poem Poem by john tiong chunghoo

total darkness on a wedding night
except the flickering candle that
plays out out his anxiety to take
a peek of the moon (bride)
the sun (father) has afforded him

he would tilt the veil to let the light
of a hundred moons shine through her face
he would look at her the way an eclipse has
cleared the path for the moon to shine
the full moon that turns into a crescent
to be shrouded in his bossom so that
it glows a warm and sweet orange

and she will peek into his face the way
the eclipse reveals the secrets of the full moon
first a crescent and then its full splendour,
a husband at last to light the way to her future days

###in the old days in China a man would only know how his wife looked
like on the wedding night and vice versa. the eclipse looks very much
the way a chinese man tilt the veil over the head of wife as he takes a peek of her face.