“Save Gloomy Cypress Trees”

Allow me to add
To your dread of us,
The ghosts of the merely great:

There are no ghosts, and there are
No words. The songs of the trees
Were never quite heard.

Stay on this mountain
And study your books.
Our planet’s notorious
For executing good looks.

Or refuse. Then you might learn
What all texts and scriptures miss:
Every passing pattern is
And is not fortuitous.