Equilibrium

I.
A moment on the road alone in late sun, the only sun on my skin today, except briefly to and from the car. Burnishing leaves and asphalt and trees and even the air, the sun a bronze sculptor. 

II.
Three coeds, first-years perhaps, hardened with that I'm-cool-now-in-college bravado. Every other word a machine-gun expletive spat out between cigarette drags and cruel comments about roommates. "This is what we &*@$ing do in Sewanee. We watch the !#*%ing sunset at Morgan's Steep," they shout into a phone, filming and sending themselves virtually back to Alabama.  

III. 
I turn one last time at the car, meet another coed who smiles and almost whispers, "It's beautiful isn't it?" as if she's in church.