thanks for the reminder! you may enjoy this little book that I made with photographer friend featuring 's Whitman's poetry, it's called, "I see Americans." If you're interested, I'll send you a free copy. Let me know. Thanks, I am a huge fan of your mom's work too, best
Jesse, thank you for this thoughtful post - your connection to the "good gray poet" is clearly felt.
I think of him every day as I walk along the edge of the creek bank, grasping the saplings and pulling myself back on the path. lSomewhere in Specimen Days he mentions doing a similar activity, but I can't remember if it was part of his regimen while recuperating from his stroke, or just for exercise. I loaned the book out a few years ago so I can't check. Anyway, I'll send belated greetings to him via the universe when I go walking shortly. And thank you for the reminder. Mind how you go.
An incredibly heartwarming post, a healing balm for these troubled times. The wisdom poets bring an instant feeling of grounding and universal connection. Thank you for being a conduit across the ages. ❤️
Happy birthday, Mister Walt! I was very inspired by Leaves of Grass when I was a teenager, at the same time that I discovered Thoreau's Walden, it was a sweet spot of inspiration for me to write. I do hope the recordings will be found someday!
Happy Birthday Walt Whitman and thank you for your lovely story of playing with you mom. I really hope one day a recording shows up. Love from London 🙏
Thank you for creating this beautiful, moving, and heartfelt tribute to Whitman on his birthday. I love reading the series of his quotes that you selected from his writing. I found myself smiling as I read your joyful stories about the sense of connection and love that you feel for Whitman; your words are full of heart and this light shines in your writing.
Allen Ginsberg wrote a poem about Whitman, titled ‘A Supermarket in California.’ Ginsberg begins: “What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon. In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!” This poem came to my mind as I read your piece. It’s true that no matter where a person exists in the world (even if they’re browsing a fluorescent supermarket in 50s California), they can a find a way to connect with the art work of Walt Whitman; his enduring ideas about nature and humanity are universal. I enjoyed how you described the Emerson imprint on the spine of an early edition of Leaves of Grass. Without a doubt, I agree with you that many artists can share a universal connection through creating art. Carl Jung believed that all human beings share a collective unconscious, and I think that artists may have a capacity to tune into a shared collective unconsciousness. Similarly, I like to imagine that the Walt Whitman Impersonator did in fact embody the spirit of Whitman in his soul. Thank you for sharing this beautiful and bright story.
“… all human beings share a collective unconscious, and I think that artists may have a capacity to tune into a shared collective unconsciousness.” This is such a lovely and engaging thought! ❤️
Thank you for this quality writing about Walt Whitman. As an Englishman living in Oxford (England) I wasn't aware it's his birthday today. When I was 18 I hitchhiked all over the USA and Canada for about 9 months in 1971. I mainly stayed in San Francisco but spent the last week or two in Massachusetts where I met a lovely Irish American woman who introduced me to Walt Whitman. I was returning to England to study English literature at Oxford. I think I was the only English undergraduate who'd read any Walt before our studies started. The Irish American woman and I used to lie in a field where fireflies winked at night and that's when she told me about Leaves of Grass. I always remember her and the fireflies when his name comes up.
The only thing I'd add to your lovely piece of writing is that in his last album Rough and Rowdy Ways a great wordsmith of our generation, Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize winner, riffs on Walt's memorable line 'I Contain Multitudes' creating a modern masterpiece inspired by Walt's words. That's just a fragment of his legacy. Thank you for sharing some of your Walt experiences.
I'm replying to this after so long but I hope that doesn't matter. When Rough and Rowdy ways was about to be released I heard it was going to be broadcast live for the first time, uninterrupted, in full on BBC Radio 6. It was a transmission from a radio station in the US so it didn't get broadcast in UK until approaching midnight on a Sunday night. I stayed up to listen to it in full with the help of some malt whisky (not sure why, I usually drink wine.) I've loved the album from the moment I heard it. My daughter bought us tickets to see Bob on his first Rough and Rowdy ways tour in the UK. We couldn't get tickets for Oxford or London so went to Manchester to see him. I first saw him at the Isle of Wight in 1969 when he turned down Woodstock to perform numbers from his John Wesley Harding album, one of if not his first performances after his near fatal motorcycle accident in 1966. You're right that I Contain Multitudes is a modern masterpiece.
The quotes from Whitman are grey - the mixture of no color and all colors. A restful interlude. Thanks Jesse.
Here are a couple of clips for everyone:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTYpo7PIof0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JILsJyJIs24
thanks for the reminder! you may enjoy this little book that I made with photographer friend featuring 's Whitman's poetry, it's called, "I see Americans." If you're interested, I'll send you a free copy. Let me know. Thanks, I am a huge fan of your mom's work too, best
Owen
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL RAFELSON
https://iseeamericans.com
Jesse, thank you for this thoughtful post - your connection to the "good gray poet" is clearly felt.
I think of him every day as I walk along the edge of the creek bank, grasping the saplings and pulling myself back on the path. lSomewhere in Specimen Days he mentions doing a similar activity, but I can't remember if it was part of his regimen while recuperating from his stroke, or just for exercise. I loaned the book out a few years ago so I can't check. Anyway, I'll send belated greetings to him via the universe when I go walking shortly. And thank you for the reminder. Mind how you go.
Lovely post, so rich and full of love. A true blessing to know you Jesse.
An incredibly heartwarming post, a healing balm for these troubled times. The wisdom poets bring an instant feeling of grounding and universal connection. Thank you for being a conduit across the ages. ❤️
Excellent word conduit.
Happy birthday, Mister Walt! I was very inspired by Leaves of Grass when I was a teenager, at the same time that I discovered Thoreau's Walden, it was a sweet spot of inspiration for me to write. I do hope the recordings will be found someday!
Happy Birthday Walt Whitman and thank you for your lovely story of playing with you mom. I really hope one day a recording shows up. Love from London 🙏
Dirt for growth. Finding the light through darkness. Green and seen. What a delight.
Being the being
Be of being
Humaning
I think of Walt Whitman when I hear the first bird to sing in the morning. It’s always the same bird beginning the sympathy of the dawn.
Happy Birthday, Walt Whitman !
Thank you for your forest of inspiration. Each page a leaf.
Jesse, your writing is so natural to read. Your expression unique yet familiar. Comforting.
Lilacs and tangerines
Dancing like you’re 17 💃
❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Meow
>•<
Meow meow…
Blessings and happy birthday to you Walt. A true naturist with Natue's Gods.esses.
YESYESYES Happy Birthday, Walt Whitman! I await you. With Love...
Thank you for all of this. Love you.
Thank you for creating this beautiful, moving, and heartfelt tribute to Whitman on his birthday. I love reading the series of his quotes that you selected from his writing. I found myself smiling as I read your joyful stories about the sense of connection and love that you feel for Whitman; your words are full of heart and this light shines in your writing.
Allen Ginsberg wrote a poem about Whitman, titled ‘A Supermarket in California.’ Ginsberg begins: “What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon. In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!” This poem came to my mind as I read your piece. It’s true that no matter where a person exists in the world (even if they’re browsing a fluorescent supermarket in 50s California), they can a find a way to connect with the art work of Walt Whitman; his enduring ideas about nature and humanity are universal. I enjoyed how you described the Emerson imprint on the spine of an early edition of Leaves of Grass. Without a doubt, I agree with you that many artists can share a universal connection through creating art. Carl Jung believed that all human beings share a collective unconscious, and I think that artists may have a capacity to tune into a shared collective unconsciousness. Similarly, I like to imagine that the Walt Whitman Impersonator did in fact embody the spirit of Whitman in his soul. Thank you for sharing this beautiful and bright story.
“… all human beings share a collective unconscious, and I think that artists may have a capacity to tune into a shared collective unconsciousness.” This is such a lovely and engaging thought! ❤️
I always feel accepted and revitalized after reading his work. Thank you for this, Jesse!
Thank you for this quality writing about Walt Whitman. As an Englishman living in Oxford (England) I wasn't aware it's his birthday today. When I was 18 I hitchhiked all over the USA and Canada for about 9 months in 1971. I mainly stayed in San Francisco but spent the last week or two in Massachusetts where I met a lovely Irish American woman who introduced me to Walt Whitman. I was returning to England to study English literature at Oxford. I think I was the only English undergraduate who'd read any Walt before our studies started. The Irish American woman and I used to lie in a field where fireflies winked at night and that's when she told me about Leaves of Grass. I always remember her and the fireflies when his name comes up.
The only thing I'd add to your lovely piece of writing is that in his last album Rough and Rowdy Ways a great wordsmith of our generation, Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize winner, riffs on Walt's memorable line 'I Contain Multitudes' creating a modern masterpiece inspired by Walt's words. That's just a fragment of his legacy. Thank you for sharing some of your Walt experiences.
I'm replying to this after so long but I hope that doesn't matter. When Rough and Rowdy ways was about to be released I heard it was going to be broadcast live for the first time, uninterrupted, in full on BBC Radio 6. It was a transmission from a radio station in the US so it didn't get broadcast in UK until approaching midnight on a Sunday night. I stayed up to listen to it in full with the help of some malt whisky (not sure why, I usually drink wine.) I've loved the album from the moment I heard it. My daughter bought us tickets to see Bob on his first Rough and Rowdy ways tour in the UK. We couldn't get tickets for Oxford or London so went to Manchester to see him. I first saw him at the Isle of Wight in 1969 when he turned down Woodstock to perform numbers from his John Wesley Harding album, one of if not his first performances after his near fatal motorcycle accident in 1966. You're right that I Contain Multitudes is a modern masterpiece.
Beautiful, Jesse! I loved reading this. Whitman inspires me, as do you!