~ Eclipse Poem by Adeline Foster

~ Eclipse

Rating: 5.0


~ Eclipse

“Now study hard, ” the teacher said,
“For when your study you’ve done,
Somewhere in the month ahead,
The time for test will come.”
Then from the desks there came a shuffling
And through the books disgruntled ruffling
While two small boys their groans were muffling
At each dreaded word.
One cast a glance toward the other;
A quick sly glance he gave his brother,
Knowing thoughts cannot be heard.

They made their plans as they rode home
When that day’s class was through.
Daring plans in whispered tone
Of what they’d dare to do.
“We’ll have to wait till after dinner
Is over and then we’ll go,
For sometimes adults see our inner
Thoughts and we don’t know.”

Though the dinner was a farm boy’s feast,
Still the plans dimmed not the least,
And never a smile their faces creased
For young boy’s plans are stubborn.
So, when the house had grown quite still,
Two small boys of forthright will
Sneaked out the back and went over the hill.
(In a month they would return.)

They spread their bedroll on a slope
And crawled between the covers.
And neither thought- least neither spoke
Of worry they might cause others.
“We’ve run away from that school desk,
And we’ll never have to take that test, ”
The older said.

“In all tarnation!
They say we’ve got to get an education.
As if we’re the ones that’ll run the nation.
I’m full fed up with that old saw;
I’m going to grow up just like Grandpa.
He never slaved in a hot schoolroom;
He got his wits from that there moon,
And everyone knows that pretty soon
They’ll recognize their error.”

Then came piping a plaintive voice,
“I’m thinking we might not have a choice.
We’ve come away with nothing to munch.
If we run away for as much as a month
What will they do with our free school lunch? ”
And he hung head in sorrow.

“We’ve done it now, and there’s no going back,
If we did there’d only be books to crack;
We’ll spoil it all if we think of that.
We’ll think about it tomorrow.”
And over head the great full moon
Winked his eye in wonder
At two small boys who whistled a tune
Then snuggled down to slumber.

Over the night a chill air fell
But there was no one awake to tell,
Until one boy woke with a yell,
“Hey! What do you think’s the matter?
The moon was full when we went to sleep,
And I just opened my eyes to peep,
And here it is Last Quarter.
Now I ask- is there any way
That we could have slept both night and day?
I know that the moon shouldn’t look that way.”

But the older boy was smarter,
“Grandpa says when the nights are chill-
And it sure is out on this hill-
And you’re snuggled down and the days are still
You could sleep right through and never know
That time had flown a week or so.
Anyway, it’s night-time now;
We’ll have to go back to sleep somehow.”
With that, his drowsy eyelids closed.

‘Till from the bedroll came a cry,
“Hey! While we slept, another week went by.
For look! The moon! It’s disappeared!
Whatever’s happening sure is weird;
It’s the strangest thing I ever heared.
Wait! I know! It’s just this hill!
Doesn’t the thought give you a thrill?
This hill’s enchanted. We just have to sleep
Again for about another week.
I’ve heard of a fellow who did the same-
Some old fellow with a funny name
Who came home leaning on a crooked cane.”
So they both went back to sleep again.

When once more our friends awoke,
They stared at each other and neither spoke
For there in the sky where it should have been
Was the full moon shining so serene,
As innocent as any moon they’d seen-
Proof that a month had passed them.

“Boy! am I glad the month is gone.
It sure is awful to starve that long.
I’m so hungry my stomach’s sore.
I’ll never try this again, for sure.”
His older brother matched him.

‘No one would believe if we ever told;
Maybe someday when we’re old
We’ll find this hill and tell the town,
But not right now ‘cause they’d laugh us down.
It’s happened more than once.
It’s time for us to retrace our tracks;
How surprised they’ll be when we get back.
And the kids at school will marvel so;
We’ll make up the stories as we go.
No one will ever have to know
That we slept away the month.”

Written in 1981

Monday, May 19, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: narrative,humor
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
If you like this narrative poem, you will also enjoy The Protagonist. It was written after a New Years gathering back in 1980, took me on to about 2: 00 in the morning.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Shania K. Younce 21 May 2014

A wonderfully beauteous poem. Bien!

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* Sunprincess * 20 June 2014

............loved reading this one.....wonderful flow......wish I could write a poem as nice as this one....adding to my poem collection....

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Patricia Grantham 30 June 2014

I really enjoyed reading your poem. Sounds like a long trek on playing hooky to get away from the books. The moon played some tricks on them instead. A mighty long break they had. Nicely written.

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Shankaran Kutty 19 July 2015

That was a beautiful piece of imagination and but for the title would have left me wondering what happened? Beautiful narration

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Mark Normand 11 August 2014

Oh....okay I got it. The title answered the question I had. Good poem and I must say You sure have a lot of energy to keep writing. I wish I could say this. My thoughts are blank it seems and I am starting to believe that the same thing that allows us to read each others writing and communicate with people all over the world is at least in part responsible for the dullness that lives in my head. Too much information is more than I can handle perhaps. I have not been able to write any new poems for over a year now. I had forgotten about my writing until one of my poems was listed as member poem of the day.and I received more comments this year than I have received for the last three years since they first listed it as poem of the day. It was a surprise. I wish I had the energy you have and I think it is time to limit my internet use and let my thoughts clear out. It may be that I have become too jaded to write anything worth posting.It's good to see you still writing. I hope you are doing well.Keep up the good work.

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Valerie Hutchinson-morgan 08 August 2014

A joy to read, for this former teacher this is a familiar topic! I love the line about grandpa who Got his wits from that there moon... A well constructed poem telling a story of the ideal way to avoid a test!

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Stephen Katona 10 July 2014

Wow Adeline, this poem is amazing. I so enjoyed reading every verse. Every child should read this poem - I shall share it with my friends on facebook. You have a fantastic imagination. I feel inspired to let my own imagination run more freely now. Thank you for helping my writing. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of your poems.

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Adeline Foster 30 June 2014

Thanks for the comment Patricia. Yes poor boys, a mighty long break they didn't have. They were back the next morning. Adeline

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Adeline Foster

Adeline Foster

Instructor of poetry, Hagerstown, MD
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