“The sunset like a blacksmith, was beating the sky into glowing red blades.”

“The sunset competes with the red glow over Johnstown.And I know,at any given moment,metal is liquid firelighting the night sky,becoming steelthat will build tracksto anywhere she might be.It will build bridges between the glittering starsand the likes of me.”

“So rode the squadrons out against the grey steel foe, adding another dash of red to the sunset glow.”

“Toward the evening the sky took on the same color as the fires. Everything took on that color, the sky, the buildings, even the ground. Just before the sunset the red in the sky would deepen to the color of blood. I imagined the sky bleeding. I imagined the heavens suffering with us. To this day a red sunset reminds me of the bleeding sky of Auschwitz.”

“The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.”

“It wasn't a pretty sunset. The colors were as expected: violet clouds, bright orange and pink underneath, against the pale blue sky. But the clouds were high cirrus, wispy, and crossed with the contrails of F-16s, a colorful glowing mess. I said, "It looks like God barfed a rainbow.”