The Missed Lightning Rod
I used to look up at that redwood tree
Each time I passed it and it made me think
Of you. It loomed there like a tall decree
That I remember Charles, a giant link
Between us two. I never crossed the road
To smell it or to feel its hard, male bark
(Just as I never touched you to decode
My feelings for you and unleash the spark
I hoped for fondly). Tree and bark were numb
To how I felt in exile. They were not
True beauty and they never made me thrum
With wish and ecstasy like that you brought.
So, God struck you with lighting and not them.
He could have found a mild way to condemn.