Words on the Road

Truly, one of the greatest gifts a person can give another is words,

because words carry far more weight than what sits on the ear.

The right words shake one's thoughts, redirect one's path.

And words are free.

Thank you for this great gift Walt Whitman, and Ana Tobio for directing me to these!

Excerpts from Walt Whitman poems:

On Journeys Through the States

We dwell a while in every city and town,

We pass through Kanada, the North-east, the vast valley of the Mississippi, and the Southern States,

We confer on equal terms with each of the States,

We make trial of ourselves and invite men and women to hear,

We say to ourselves, Remember, fear not, be candid, promulge the body and the soul,

Dwell a while and pass on, be copious, temperate, chaste, mag- netic,

And what you effuse may then return as the seasons return,

Song of the Open Road

AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good-fortune;

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Strong and content, I travel the open road.

O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you—yet I love you;

You express me better than I can express myself;

You shall be more to me than my poem.

From this hour, freedom!

From this hour I ordain myself loosed of limits and imaginary lines,

Going where I list—my own master, total and abso- lute,

Listening to others, and considering well what they say,

Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,

Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

I inhale great draughts of air;

The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.

I am larger than I thought;

I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me;

I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.

I will recruit for myself and you as I go;

I will scatter myself among men and women as I go;

I will toss the new gladness and roughness among them;