“Transcendent! New! An American bard at last!”
(written about himself and his major life work, Leaves of Grass)
Trim the grass
Feed the grass
Water the grass
Direct the grass
This parched lawn needs attention
What started as skinny chapbook
of twelve poems
grew into four hundred
in forty years
Who has such fortitude?
Walt was always working on the same book
First edition did not
have his name on cover
He reviewed himself in newspapers anonymously
quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson
without permission
on the spine
Emerson was not thrilled
Take a breath
Full breath
That’s what I call a poet