Whit in God's Name..?

If there are two things I love more than other things, it's journals and poetry. I've been writing poetry for as long as I can remember. A few years back, I started keeping a journal of things I deemed inspiring. Quotes. Doodles. Poems. Song lyrics. Anything I felt was too beautiful to forget.

In reading them, you can learn a lot about me, my experiences, and the way I view life. This works much the same way with other people who write, journal, compose music, dance, or create visual art. Our dear friend, Walt Whitman, is no exception.

Yep. He's got lots of feelings.

In scrolling through Whitman's journal, I pulled out quite a few phrases, ideas, and words I felt were important to take note of.

The first thing I noticed was Walt Whitman's idea for a "dialogue between the president elect" and himself. This idea was present throughout the journal, with portraits of Whitman and Lincoln sketched into the back.

There were also two drafts of poetry included in this journal. One titled "The Halls of Brooklyn" with a few lines scrawled beneath, and the other titled "Ship of Libertad". The latter had much more content and seemed to connect a lot to the idea of universal themes and metaphors. It reads, "Welcome the star-Welcome the trial-let the waves. Why now I shall see what the old ship is made of. Anybody can sail before a fair wind, a smooth sea..." and reminded me a lot of one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain.

It may seem like just a poem about a boat, but in reality, it's Whitman's challenge, to himself and others, to invite hardship into one's life. Because it is through struggle and adversity that we grow stronger. This is just one example of how Whitman explores, and invites readers to explore and contemplate along with him, universal themes.

This intent is also made clear through the discernible words which speckle Whitman's journal. Words such as "lessons," "conscience," "philosophy," "questions," and "reasons".

Probably my favorite thing I was able to make out, however, was in the fifth image. It reads, "The Jew, the Christ...there is love." Which to me, says a lot about the universal theme of religion and religious tension. Whitman expresses a sort of hope and belief that people of different faiths can coexist. What better message for this lovely Easter/Passover weekend? (:

My favorite quote from this page, now entirely readable from the typed transcriptions: "I surround all, and dare not make a single exclusion." It seems my thoughts were pretty spot on! I like the idea of reconciling religions as also being indicative of the time period of the Civil War and Whitman's wishes for national peace.

By the looks of these journal pages, Whitman is a pretty idealistic, hopeful, positive person, despite his personal challenges. He truly believes that a global peace can exist amongst people of different nationalities, political backgrounds, and religions. And that's pretty darn awesome.

On that note of historical idealistic positivity in the form of poetry, I've decided to share one of my own pieces with you all! It hasn't quite made it into the journal yet and it has no title.

Gripping the rails,

With trembling fingers,

And even worse,

A trembling heart.

I've climbed this ladder,

And I'm standing on the edge of the universe,

Staring at the crowded clusters of cosmos,

Looking for some astrological sign that it's okay to turn back.

But all my fate tells me is that I am fulfilling a legacy.

Up high,

With no time to fall,

Paper tigers on leashes,

Walking in moon-dusted small steps,

I'm hand in hand with all the flyers before me who have defied logic.

And if the Wrights can go from bikes to biplanes,

And Amelia can soar over the Atlantic,

While Neil's making leaps for mankind,

Then certainly I,

Can take the plunge,

Walk over and say,

Hello.

Hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and this long blog post!