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| Walt Whitman - "This is the city and I am one of the citizens...." |
Three weeks before an important election, and I have been thinking about participatory democracy, and about how far removed poetry feels from politics. But partly due to a recent trip to New York City (which is a poem - a multitude of poems - in itself) I've also been thinking about the most democratic of poets, Walt Whitman - how he embraced life, embraced people, valued them, refused to assign them "high" or "low" status, simply breathed the multitude in. And that man could BREATHE. I wonder what he would think of America in 2012?Would he have been saddened by the devisiveness? Of course, he lived through the Civil War, so he knew a bit about intransigence and combativeness. Just look at the young man in the picture above, and the Walt Whitman of later years. He still seems to have the ability, with that face, to pull you toward him. He still held multitudes.
If you last read Whitman when you were a student in high school, read "A Song of Myself" again before you vote.
"...for every atom belonging to me, as well belongs to you...''
"In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barley-corn less...
"I am large, I contain multitudes."
I'll be thinking about these words - about our deep connection to all people - "none more and not one a barley-corn less" than me - when I cast my ballot in a few weeks.
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The Poetry Friday round-up is being hosted by Irene Latham today over at her blog,
Live Your Poem. Head over there to see what other people are posting.
