Happy Birthday Walt!

Walt Whitman, born this day in 1819.

Beat! beat! drums!--Blow! bugles! blow!
Through the windows--through doors--burst like a ruthless force,
Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation;
Into the school where the scholar is studying;
Leave not the bridegroom quiet--no happiness must he have now with
his bride;
Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, plowing his field or gathering his
grain;
So fierce you whirr and pound, you drums--so shrill you bugles blow.

Wind

A new poem:

In the Wind

I step outside
to wait for the bus
in the sharp wind.
I am still
drowsy thinking
of something I want
to say to you
but you of course
are not here
so I whisper it
to the wind
that draws back
for a moment listening
eagerly though it
has heard it before
it likes to scatter
the words so
they float like
dry leaves in the air.

May 23, 2007

Have a very good Memorial Day!

Robinson's Credo

I've been delighted to see that Edwin Arlington Robinson is slowly coming back into the notice of poetry readers, thanks to a recent biography. Here's a characteristic poem:

Credo

I cannot find my way: there is no star
In all the shrouded heavens anywhere;
And there is not a whisper in the air
Of any living voice but one so far
That I can hear it only as a bar
Of lost, imperial music, played when fair
And angel fingers wove, and unaware,
Dead leaves to garlands where no roses are.

No, there is not a glimmer, nor a call,
For one that welcomes, welcomes when he fears,
The black and awful chaos of the night;
For through it all—above, beyond it all—
I know the far sent message of the years,
I feel the coming glory of the light.

Update, May 22

I discovered another excellent link with a virtual tour of Robinson's hometown of Gardiner, ME, with photos, biographical information, and poems.