On the Occasion of Her Birthday. Born February 3, 1874
by Earl J Wilcox
Dear Ms. Stein, Ms.Stein:
After all these yearly years,
(148 to be exactly exact)
We still adore, do adore
Your overdone style style
Especially the way you gave
Us the glory of the rose,
(is a rose, is a rose, is a rose).
A rose is still a rose. And
To you, Ms. Stein, we deeply
Appreciate, still appreciate,
Your honest eye, strict
Causes for literary finesse,
Always and forever, and
Ever after, this Rose for you
On your One Hundred Forty-Eighth
Birthday.
Writing in South Carolina, Earl Wilcox recently published some baseball poetry, plus poems relating to his memoir, and the weather. He has about 60 years left to catch Gertrude Stein.