[Martin Elster]

Fliss, "Song of the Stones" is a marvelous poem. The perfectly consistent trochaic meter, the voice of the stones, and alliteration are delightful.

I also enjoyed the solar eclipse poem. But I can't help wondering who "R." is. I can't decide if this person is a bystander just being annoying, is the teacher of the drama class, or a fellow drama student who is obsessively infatuated with the N.

By the way, have you ever wondered why, during a solar eclipse, the Moon's shadow moves across Earth faster than Earth spins on its axis? Yes, the shadow always moves from west to east, racing ahead of the ground or the sea. It's because the Moon moves faster in its orbit around Earth than Earth rotates.

The Moon orbits Earth at a speed of 2,288 miles per hour.
The surface of the earth at the equator moves at a speed of roughly 1,000 miles per hour.
So the moon moves far faster than Earth spins!
And that's also why it rises in the east later each night. The Moon overtakes the earth's rotation every day.