The Idiot Oh how this sullen, careless world Ignorant of me is! Those rocks, those homes Know not the touch of my flesh, nor is there one tree Whose shade has known me for a friend. I’ve wandered the wide world over. No man I’ve known, no friendly beast Has come and put its nose into my hands. No maid has welcomed my face with a kiss. Yet once, as I took passage From Gibraltar to Cape Horn I met some friendly mariners on the boat And as we struggled to keep the ship from sinking In a storm, the very waves seemed friendly, and the sound The spray made as it hit the front of the boat. - John Ashbery (American poet, 1927-2017)
