One of the ones that Midas touched

 One of the ones that Midas touched
Who failed to touch us all
Was that confiding Prodigal
The reeling Oriole --

So drunk he disavows it
With badinage divine --
So dazzling we mistake him
For an alighting Mine --

A Pleader -- a Dissembler --
An Epicure -- a Thief --
Betimes an Oratorio --
An Ecstasy in chief --

The Jesuit of Orchards
He cheats as he enchants
Of an entire Attar
For his decamping wants --

The splendor of a Burmah
The Meteor of Birds,
Departing like a Pageant
Of Ballads and of Bards --

I never thought that Jason sought
For any Golden Fleece
But then I am a rural man
With thoughts that make for Peace --

But if there were a Jason,
Tradition bear with me
Behold his lost Aggrandizement
Upon the Apple Tree --

Form: Lyric Comments

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace