California

Forged by God's fingers in His Furnace, Fate,
My destiny drew near the glowing shore
Where California hides her golden ore,
Her rubies and beryls ...
Manifold fruits and flowers alike create
Glories most unimaginable, more
Than Heaven's own meadows match; yet this is sore.
A stain; not one of these is delicate.

Save only the clear green within the sea--
Because that rolls all landless from Japan.
I did not know until I missed it here
How beautiful that beauty is to me,
That life that bears Death's sigil traced too clear,
Blue lines within the beauty that is man.