As I was reciting some Whitman poems this morning and noticing my mood improving, I realized: I want to invite friends to read Whitman this summer.
There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
I suggest two simple commitments: outside of weekly class time, spend one hour reading Whitman and one hour doing your own writing for each of the ten weeks. If you want to do more, have at it.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I recommend the book, Walt Whitman, The Complete Poems (Penguin, edited by Francis Murphy).
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d;
I stand and look at them long and long.
Let’s meet for 10 Wednesdays in a row, beginning on June 22 and going until August 24 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Central Time. We will use Zoom and hope to see people from beyond St.Louis and even outside the US. Each session will have time for freewriting, paired discussion, and group sharing of favorite poems.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
Tuition is $150; you can write a check to me or use Paypal to this address: markjchmiel@gmail.com
Only I will establish in the Mannahatta and in every city of these States inland and seaboard,
And in the fields and woods, and above every keel little or large that dents the water,
Without edifices or rules or trustees or any argument,
The institution of the dear love of comrades
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