Hermit as Uncle Walt
I Sing Myself Walt Whitman
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. (Walt Whitman from “Song of Myself”)
Halloween has come upon me, shaggy,
I shake my grizzled self; I strike a pose,
see within reflections, that faded rose
of bygone poets, Whitman, this scraggly
stranger is me. Is he. From our baggy
paunch we sing ourselves in joy to oppose
October’s weary chill-autumn in throes
of decay and Nature’s dissonant dirge!
Sing we our minds alive! Sing, sacred Soul,
hymns to warm us as our breath plumes mighty
gouts into morning chill, leaves falling gold
and red to bless the ground, and old Time’s roll
of infinite progression sweeps all we
yesterday were away! Future, unfold!
David M Pitchford
26 October 2007
Filed under: authors, creative souls, esoteric, humor, mantra, poem, poems, poetry, rose, self empowerment, sonnet
This poem here caused a song to rise within me as a hug to my heart, David. The following lines arereally striking; I couldn’t agree more with what you’ve written.
“I strike a pose,
see within reflections, that faded rose
of bygone poets, Whitman, this scraggly
stranger is me. Is he.
As I look at your photo - it is you isn’t it? - I see and feel I’m looking upon an old soul (how cliche, janet!), a Renaissance man, a Shakespearean bard, a madrigalist, or one of Robin Hood’s merry men. When I was in community theatre, we did Shakespeare, but the actors looked like the Where’s Waldo character. heh heh We could have used you back then when we needed someone who looked authentic in costume. Great pic, btw!
Thanks, Janet! Yep, that’s me. I trimmed the beard back a little two weeks ago for my new gig as a wine consultant, but the hair has gone uncut for about a year or so. First time I’ve had the patience to let the front grow this long. It’s a look I like and am comfortable with, and one I’m cultivating for the sake of resembling my favorite fictional character, Skinner of Panologia, whom I wrote as my alterego anyway. I’m talking to a publisher right now about getting the full trilogy on the market! Wish me luck with that.
I think Sio took this pic with her cell phone.