Ode to the Giant Forest

In California skip the beach, snub LA and drive East If you don't know where to go, just find the pines, palms, and orange groves But that's not enough for me Bring tire chains in the spring, a winter coat, food and drink A warm bag and camp stove, just clean up so bears don't know And sleep under a canopy of green, but that's not what I came to see We came to scale that forest mountain pass We came to hike through the snow And outlast the picture posing families in gym shorts shivering in their hoodies Here for General Sherman and then back to the city We're here for under 20 Fahrenheit nights We came from Ohio to do this right The visual concept is too big for my head Like a goldfish brain, around every corner I'm overwhelmed again By the stature, the orange hue I can't explain to you the feeling that it gave Hands on hairy bark, burn scars; like uneven, black tile Chin to trunk, up, up and up Thousands of years in the making What have they seen What have they done I could swear that they had breath I stood inside a living corpse near bear cubs We hiked Moro rock and looked from above I couldn't leave I left in tears I couldn't leave