To the sun I saw while leaving Philadelphia

A memory from 2020.

Was I the only one—I thought—
to have seen you,
to have appreciated you,
that day, moving north?

Mind dragged way behind—you know—
the view of my gaze
was not able to testify,
was not able to stop.

I swear there was nowhere to stop,
to pull over,
to wait for mind to catch up,
to tell that guy in the orange vest
facing east to turn around,
to see—dammit.

If mind was there, it would have found a way to stop—
the courage to stop,
to look at you,
to acknowledge how you had enlarged yourself
behind the haze
of some wildfires that burned like you.

So I kept north—
dragging the part of me
that never knew you.