I read Whitman
on the toilet
during my morning
shit and think,
clearly one act
of the two,
clearly, is
the most poetic
one speaks of
my country, of
wars and its
fortunes, of
flesh-paper'd
books in infinite
volumes on the
indefinable sort
of personal
triumph, and of
this it speaks
so clearly
clearly it is
music and it is
tactile and
tracing from the
depths yawning
hushed beauties
sprouting wings
with clear
piercing cries
clearly from
the seat of
bold bodied
consciousness
I think, clearly,
I spend too
much time on
this toilet
Whitman is
drowning in the
bowl of man
and with a
swift nod of
appreciation I
wipe the excess
poetry from my
ass, so I can
shit clearly
on the toilet
during my morning
shit and think,
clearly one act
of the two,
clearly, is
the most poetic
one speaks of
my country, of
wars and its
fortunes, of
flesh-paper'd
books in infinite
volumes on the
indefinable sort
of personal
triumph, and of
this it speaks
so clearly
clearly it is
music and it is
tactile and
tracing from the
depths yawning
hushed beauties
sprouting wings
with clear
piercing cries
clearly from
the seat of
bold bodied
consciousness
I think, clearly,
I spend too
much time on
this toilet
Whitman is
drowning in the
bowl of man
and with a
swift nod of
appreciation I
wipe the excess
poetry from my
ass, so I can
shit clearly
posted by:
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Birmingham
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Re: Wiping Walt
Thu, September 7, 2006 - 8:35 PMI was left wondering what the association with Walt and shit was.
My immediate thought was that perhaps you knew he was gay.
Analyzing it pyschologically, I then proceeded to think that maybe you
wanted to slay for many a poets "sacred cow" to demonstrate your iconoclastic
spirit (excuse the mix metaphors). And so my conclusion was that you believe that being even remotely associated with Whitman might rub off on you. -
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Re: Wiping Walt
Fri, September 8, 2006 - 12:53 PMIt seems that every poet has a piece mentioning their personal relationship with the ghost of Whitman, so I merely contributed my own. I really do read Leaves of Grass on the toilet every day. The mocking nature you picked up on was due to the way Whitman cherished natural phenomenon so much more than words and yet the poets who praise him praise his words as if the map was the territory. I love Whitman, but the things he talked about are far more beautiful than the way he spoke of them, as is with any poet in my opinion.
As for your immediate thought, I also find it funny that people seem so fixated on his sexuality. Granted, homoerotic sexuality is present in his work, that's hardly the majority of his sentiments. Have you ever looked at the Wikipedia page of him? There were all these driving forces of nature in him and yet more than anything the page discusses what different people think he did with his boners.
p.s. I think he fucked trees. -
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Re: Wiping Walt
Sat, September 9, 2006 - 11:15 PM>>>yet the poets who praise him praise his words as if the map was the territory>>>
good point. Yet, the choice of words and where they're placed is a big part of what makes great writing great. I'm sure there's a happy medium with the message and how the message is conveyed.
I too read Whitman, but in an American Lit. class in my undergrad days: Leaves of grass, other stuff. My English prof. was an old beatnik. I wish I could have gotten more out of the class but I was stoned most of the time. I remember him reading Whitman outload in class. I think he knew me and a classmate were stoned and he wanted to trip us out. He started reading Whitman and the words began to vibrate and I felt them passing through as sound waves as he wagging his head like a rooster glancing over to see how me and my friend reacted. I did move an inch, I just sat there shocked with his reading of Whitman transplanting us back somewhere to glory days of this old beatnik. He was a prick. Like old punks are. Cocky with that sarcastic look that says, "I know something that you don't." I think their pricks because they lived to tell about it.
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