My little Dove, my one true love,
You have gone astray.
I checked the cage, I checked the perch--
Saw you flew away.

I never saw you in the tree,
Never knew you came.
'Til the minute, 'til the moment--
When you set that poor tree aflame.

Like feathers did those leaves flutter,
Hot and turning black.
Aborted-fetus flowers now--
Ashen, crackling, curled around Lack.

That poor tree became a tower,
A beacon of dark.
Smoky tears billowed inside me--
Then I saw the Lark.



-LP