There are men too gentle to live among wolves / Who prey upon them with IBM eyes / And sell their hearts and guts for martinis at noon. / There are men too gentle for a savage world / Who dream instead of snow and children and Halloween / And wonder if the leaves will change their color soon. / / There are men too gentle to live among wolves / Who anoint them for burial with greedy claws / And murder them for a merchant’s profit and gain. / There are men too gentle for a corporate world / Who dream instead of candied apples and Ferris Wheels / And pause to hear the distant whistle of a train. / There are men too gentle to live among wolves / Who devour them with eager appetite and search / For other men to prey upon and suck their childhood dry. / There are men too gentle for an accountant’s world / Who dream instead of Easter eggs and fragrant grass / And search for beauty in the mystery of the sky. / There are men too gentle to live among wolves / Who toss them like a lost and wounded dove. / Such gentle men are lonely in a merchant’s world, / Unless they have a gentle one to love. // James Kavanaugh