Of Captains and Cradles

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* This is a negative-space number two pencil sketch I did of my hero, Walt Whitman. (Repost) *

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Oh, My Dear Walter, how your words have slayed
          Humbled me, broken me, molded, remade

To taste of your world, see above or below it
          Wit of a wordsmith, wry pith of a poet

To so construe love without using the phrase
          Scrawl the sinew of war, yet delight in the days

To yawp of the grass - journeywork of the stars
          Help heal a nation, attend to its scars

Find grace among horrors, sift beauty from death
          The soul-pull of tides - briny kiss of their breath

To habit us all ... to the dazzle of light
          Celebrate ourselves, bequeath us the night

Ask recurring questions of romance and life
          Of presidents, boot soles, and moldering strife

Demons and mockingbirds, Paumanok's dunes
          The pale, horrid witness of unstinted moons

'Twas sad-blown, a bugle, convulsed, was a drum
          Yet exquisite, the dirge for a soldier and son

The sorrow of clouds in a ravening sky
          The weep of a child should the Pleiades die

Knit airy-fresh words, with uncommon phrases
          Draw Apollo and Neptune in all of their phases

Be there adoration as hapless as mine
          Yet no soul more ardently leveled, supine

No writer has reached deeper into my heart
          Idioms and phrases ... such allurement, impart

Ah, yes, what I'd give to have just one chat
          With the rare human being who afforded all that

And maybe I'm biased, if perhaps to a fault
          But the name of MY Captain, O Captain ...

Is WALT.

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Gershon Wolf

Date: 12/24/2018 9:53:00 PM

Terrific wit, man!! It fairly WALT-zes across the screen. Honed so finely, my friend. Holiday Best, Gershon

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/28/2018 9:58:00 PM

Thank you so very much, Gershon - that is so kind of you, my friend! :-)

John Hamilton

Date: 12/20/2018 9:14:00 PM

You learned well from the master, student may at some point become the teacher. I know I adore every word!

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/22/2018 5:43:00 PM

Oh, I would never even imagine that in reality, John, but you are exceedingly kind, my friend - thank you so much, I am proud of this one ... I think Walt must've been whispering me, (or yawping me from yonder tree!). ;-) <3

Nette Onclaud

Date: 12/20/2018 1:35:00 PM

this is a majestic tribute to one of the greatest classic poets of all time... well done,gregory

Gregory Richard Barden
Date: 12/22/2018 5:41:00 PM

Oh, that's very kind of you to say, Nette - I worked hard on this to incorporate many of his phrases, poems, and subject matter ... it's nice that you know his work and can appreciate those elements, it means a lot to me. Many thanks and blessings, my friend! :-) <3