Walking through fields one summer evening,
I saw a cloud, desolate but free, unaccompanied
by everything except the setting sun.
The sunset was alluring, a dazzling orb of vermillion,
liquid gold, that enlivened the indigo sky.
Yet this solitary cloud, impetuous and recalcitrant,
Was determined to mar the picturesque evening.
Gradually, it loomed across the sky until it
eclipsed all sunlight with its imposing presence.
The evening’s charming appeal surrendered to
a darkening night, and premonitory chills whispered
through the field grasses. I turned my back on
the scene and began to traipse back toward the
rusty gate, when a beam of radiance ignited
the world before me in an iridescent glow.
I whirled around to catch salmon and coral
tinges reflecting off the careless cloud,
making the night more beautiful than
before.