Not Penny's Boat

This has been a bad summer for me when it comes to beloved fictional characters. Before J. K. Rowling ripped my heart out again and again with Deathly Hallows, I was assaulted by the carnage in the LOST finale, which included the demise of Charlie as Desmond watched helplessly. Here's a reflection by Desmond shortly after the tragic event...

Not Penny's Boat

NOT PENNY'S BOAT, he wrote
In black ink on his palm,
His face so strangely calm
As water filled that room.
I'd shown him to his doom
While someone pulled my strings;
His thoughts on noble things,
He'd played his final note.

I watched him gently bend
Like barley in the breeze
And crumpled to my knees,
Aghast at what I'd done.
Her name shone like the sun
Upon my eager eyes
But brought not smiles but sighs
As I grieved for my friend.

Oh, Des, you were a fool,
I mutter savagely
As in my mind I see
His steady gaze reach mine.
In destiny's design,
I was the perfect pawn.
Now Charlie Pace is gone;
I know that life is cruel.

It seems I've killed them all.
I only sought to save
And possibly to pave
The path that led to Pen.
We'll never meet again
Unless I break this curse
That haunts me like a hearse.
The chance of that is small.

The words catch in my throat
As I repeat them now,
In torment over how
To break the news to Claire.
My love awaits somewhere,
But no reunion rears.
I shudder as fate sneers,
It isn't Penny's boat.