Gentlemen

Crinkled old men were
leathered
leafleteers -- crowned
guardians -- upright
overseers --

shelling out last century's
chivalry, (et al.) what was left of
decency sold
on their sheltering
shelves, hoping moral pamphlets they've
martyred themselves to
blueprint for both

literary and literate,

the literati that revere and
protect forays into forests,

will propagate and provide sundered
loam a lesson plan for
fresh recruits to form
branches and morals and
shelter you.