Blood-red

Tonight's sunset    
was the most magnificent I've ever seen:
blood-red in a sky streaked with pink and purple,  
its hue and brightness unsurpassed,    
at least as I recall it.    
No photographic evidence exists—  
if only I'd taken the car    
(I try not to drive insignificant distances);
I could have got back to take a picture    
before it disappeared.    
if only I'd taken my phone along    
(although my camera wouldn't have done it justice);    
if only I'd gone slightly earlier    
(but would it have looked the same?).    
    
I choose to believe    
that I was in the right place at the right time,    
enjoying an evening bike ride to the shops;
flying along unfettered, in the gentle breeze.
If I had taken the car,    
I wouldn't have been at the apex of that same hill    
at that very moment.    
Though I cursed my lack of camera,    
I knew full well that this was an opportunity
to view the world as it is,    
rather than through a lens or screen.    
And so I took a picture with my heart instead.    
   
Still, I wish you could have seen it too.