Walt, for Andrew, 1.22.24

I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions,But really I am neither for nor against institutions, (What indeed have I in common with them? or what with the destruction of them?)Only…

Journals and Commonplace Books

It was becoming a habit with [Thoreau] now to work back over his journals and to reread books, to reengage old subjects in the light of new interests, to revise and recopy his own earlier…

What Came First

I was reading C.K. Williams’s book On WhitmanSeptember 2010And I scribbled on page 97 these three.. A NameAn AvowalA Maxim– Kelly McBride“You Are My Hero”Seven times down, eight times up The “Hero” referenceI’d first scribbled…

Wake Up!

 I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. –Nhat Hahn There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though…

Exploring di Prima

Dear Poet. I finally got my Walt class together… maybe you could join us as a guest speaker at some point, tell us what you thought of him. But if you are indeed interested/curious about…

Walt, Various

1. I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to a boil.–Walt Whitman 2. In 1968 Susan Sontag visited Hanoi for two weeks. In her account of her experiences, she seemed a bit surprised the…