The Weekly Whitman
No. 1: April 5, 2020
How can you be alive you growths of spring?
How can you furnish health you blood of herbs, roots, orchards, grain?
The grass of spring covers the prairies,
The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden,
The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,
The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches,
The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves,
The tinge awakes over the willow-tree and the mulberry-tree,
The he-birds carol mornings and evenings while the she-birds sit on their nests,
The young of poultry break through the hatch'd eggs,
The new-born of animals appear, the calf is dropt from the cow, the colt from the mare,
Out of its little hill faithfully rise the potato's dark green leaves,
Out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk, the lilacs bloom in the dooryards.
What chemistry!
That the winds are really not infectious,
That this is no cheat, this transparent green-wash of the sea,
That it will not endanger me with fevers,
That the cool drink from the well tastes so good,
That blackberries are so flavorous and juicy,
That the fruits of the apple-orchard and the orange-orchard, that melons, grapes, peaches, plums, will none of them poison me.
That all is clean forever and forever.
excerpted from Leaves of Grass
1892
Prompt:
What line resonates with your day today?
What phrase mirrors something you experienced in the past week?
No. 1: April 5, 2020
How can you be alive you growths of spring?
How can you furnish health you blood of herbs, roots, orchards, grain?
The grass of spring covers the prairies,
The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden,
The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,
The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches,
The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves,
The tinge awakes over the willow-tree and the mulberry-tree,
The he-birds carol mornings and evenings while the she-birds sit on their nests,
The young of poultry break through the hatch'd eggs,
The new-born of animals appear, the calf is dropt from the cow, the colt from the mare,
Out of its little hill faithfully rise the potato's dark green leaves,
Out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk, the lilacs bloom in the dooryards.
What chemistry!
That the winds are really not infectious,
That this is no cheat, this transparent green-wash of the sea,
That it will not endanger me with fevers,
That the cool drink from the well tastes so good,
That blackberries are so flavorous and juicy,
That the fruits of the apple-orchard and the orange-orchard, that melons, grapes, peaches, plums, will none of them poison me.
That all is clean forever and forever.
excerpted from Leaves of Grass
1892
Prompt:
What line resonates with your day today?
What phrase mirrors something you experienced in the past week?
The lines that resonate with me today:
ReplyDelete...That the winds are really not infectious/...That it will not endanger me with fevers/That the cool drink from the well tastes so good...
We escape two miles down a dirt road to a wide open field of tender spring grass and small green-red leaves on the fruit trees, hidden behind the blossoms. We drink well water, and it has the earthy taste of clay. We walk the hills in the spring wind, watching the wildflowers stand their ground. We wade through the creek, letting it wash over all our bodies. We dig out hands into the earth to make a bike jump. The wind dies down at dusk and I feel, amidst this pandemic of potential pathogens, as if my body and mind have both been swept clean.