Jamie Hagedorn

verbal/linguistic

creative writing prosec

placed here: 8/26/98

2/26/98 Totality

Celebrity ship Galaxy near Montserrat in Caribbean

An eclipse places the observer inescapably in the moment. This moment is like none other, and will not hasten, or pause, or accommodate itself to human convenience.

The eclipsed sun and its corona appeared and, eerily motionless- stark, staring, and implacable primitive. It was easy to imagine how primitve man might have seen it as the malignant gaze of the pitiless god. I trembled before the blind, stony obliviousness o fthe moon, following the grinding, inexorable dictates of celestial mechanics, itself heedless of the unfolding spectacle and the effect it produced on another world. Such diffident power could elevate us or crush us with equal ease.

And a few afterthoughts

The blackness of the silohouetted moon during totality.. so black that I think I've never seen black before.
The thrill of seeing Venus pop into view before totality....
The contiuing eruption of Montserrat throughout the eclipse...we're surround by forces of unimaginable power.

Matthew Ketchum

Linguistic/verbal

Poetry prose

placed here: 9/24/98

2/26/98 Totality

Celebrity ship Galaxy near Montserrat in Caribbean