Staring at the Sun

Today, both my children
mistook the rising sun
for the setting moon.

They wondered why it was so red
in the grey sky.
They called it a blood moon.
My son, gazing into the low red circle in the sky
said it had to be the moon
because he could stare at it
and not get hurt.

He hasn’t learned yet that things
can look similar
and yet be completely opposite.

And neither of my children have learned
that the harm that can be caused by this confusion
is not always immediate-
sometimes it can take years and years
to see the damage.

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