Now, Then, When

A tribute, in the spirit of Walt Whitman

To write. No, to sing!
To live, love, and work with all our hearts.
To breathe with the strength that
dances deep into the mid-night hours
with children and their drums.
To have a flute and the wind for music;
Oh, to wake while still dreaming!

To conquer the raging river of my fear in
less than one lifetime.

To know what heaven is like,

and to know if we’ll ever

have it on earth.

Ah, life; oh, Love!
To thee and thee alone I pledge my identity.
All in hopes that each day forward will be a bit
Better than the ones behind them.
Better because I made it so.

Effort, attention, the force of my will
No, not the force of my will,
but the freedom of my imagination!

What a task, what a burden.
Help me; ah life, sweet Love.