Alec Wilder

“Beauty! Art! Wit!
Wonderment! Humility!
Arrogance! Style!
Virtue! Decency!
Patience!
And all the others,
Gone, trampled by the
Newly-polished jack boots
Of the clog-suited society.
I'm a stranger here, from
Another planet;
Not spotted yet, but
Getting peculiar stares>
Forbidden entrance to
All the places where
Air remains,
Where green is true
and water unmolested.
In any other time,
(Excepting Attila's)
I'd be a hero.
Why, they'd even name
An alley after me
And put a blotting-paper
Plaque on all my doors.
Not because I was great
But because I insisted on
All the words and ways rejected by
Those who wait ferally
In the ancient trees.”
― Alec Wilder

“Give me that warm feeling,
That makes me believe again.
Give me that soft answer,
The kind you gave me way back when.
Give me some true kindness,
That brightens the sky again.
Give me the best that's in you,
And encouragement now and then.
Dust off those long-lost manners!
Bury ambition and guile!
Unfurl those lovely banners
Of virtue and laughter and style!
Give me that warm feeling,
Take off that impersonal glove.
Remember, remember we're dealing
With that fair and rare thing called love!”
― Alec Wilder