Newcastle Eclipse
Across the Tyne in a total eclipse
the early train screeches home to roost,
the city takes another shape.
Mid-air mops river, wets lips,
thin light bounced from sea-coal glass,
across the Tyne in a total eclipse.
Warehouse buildings, water-dipped,
give way to station exit queues,
the city takes another shape.
Rush hour folds in and sits,
a busload stalls mid-street to look,
across the Tyne in a total eclipse.
Onlookers in sunglasses, faces tipped,
together track the inching moon,
the city takes another shape.
The brimming circle hangs, shifts:
a thumbnail of white sunlight bursts
across the Tyne in a total eclipse.
The city takes another shape.
