Walt Whitman

Preface to Leaves of Grass (excerpt) -- Walt Whitman

Love the earth and sun and the animals,
despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
stand up for the stupid and crazy,
devote your income and labor to others,
hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence toward the people,
take off your hat to nothing known or unknown,
or to any man or number of men,
go freely with powerful uneducated persons,
and with the young, and with the mothers or families,
re-examine all you have been told
in school or church or in any book,
and dismiss whatever insults your own soul;
and your very flesh shall be a great poem....

~ Walt Whitman ~
(from the Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855 edition)

Lessons in my life

Some days I take my little dog, Abby, to work with me and on my lunch hour we go for a walk at a local park in Phoenix close to the office. This park seems to be where the homeless people 'crash' for the day. I have begun to recognize some of the people, but today there was a new face; well 6 new faces actually! I am always on the look-out for dogs, Abby loves to meet new dogs and just doesn't understand that they are not all nice! As we are walking I notice a big dog with puppies who are nursing. Her owner is sitting right beside her. So, of course, I had to stop for a minute and chat with the man. He said that she had 9 puppies but only 4 of them were still living and they were 2 weeks old. He said he had to find a home for them, "living on the streets in the desert...." I'm immediately thinking of the humane society or some kind of animal rescue mission. Abby and I continued on our walk.

OK. I know myself. I will ponder and ponder this situation and worry about this dog and the puppies! The mother was a mongrel, a mutt, a Heinz 57 who appeared to have a little pit bull in her. The puppies will be the same; no special breed, no registration papers. Here is a guy that is homeless looking out for this mother dog and her puppies! When we drove away from the park, I noticed that he was carefully putting the puppies in a milk crate and the mother dog was watching him. I guess it was time for them to move on.

On the one hand I'm thinking that he should turn the animals into a shelter. On the other hand, perhaps this dog is the man's best friend, companion, and only solace in a world that has turned upside down for him for whatever reason. I think he must have a big heart! This man gets a gold star for the day in my book!

On we go, Abby and I walking around the park. An older man in a motorized wheelchair comes down the sidewalk and Abby starts barking, she had probably never seen a wheelchair before! He asked me if Abby was a Pekingese, and so the conversation started. He said that he had just come from the VA hospital. I asked him if he had been in World War II. He asked me how old I thought he was! I answered (with my fingers crossed) ummm probably about 56. The man was a veteran of the Vietnam War, he was 62 years old. He said that his niece, her husband and their 5 kids had just lost their home and moved in with him in his one bedroom apartment. The city bus came along and the man departed. Abby and I continued on our walk. I am pondering about the puppies, now I'm pondering about the war and the poor veteran living out his life with 7 more people in his home!

First, I have to rethink my thoughts on veterans. My dad was a veteran of World War II. We lost him 11 years ago in November. He was 76 when he passed. The man in the park looked to be close to that age. My dad would now be 87 years old and I realize there aren't too many of the WWII veterans left. Of course, I am probably not going to see an 87+ year old man tooling down the sidewalk in Phoenix, wheelchair or not. Time keeps moving along!

Next, I believe this man, this veteran of a terrible war, also has a big heart. I imagine him opening his door to his niece and living in terribly cramped conditions so that she and her family will not be homeless. Another gold star I am giving away to this man!

Back at the office.....one of the architects has been looking for a dog, not just any dog but a schnauzer. I told him the story of the homeless man with the puppies and he said, "You talked to him? You have more courage than I do!"

Did it take courage for me to talk to a man with a dog and puppies, homeless or not? I have been taking Abby to this park for about a year and there are always homeless people there. I have never had any kind of negative experience. A couple times I have been asked for bus money, but in a kind way, nothing scary or anything like that. I come from the Midwest; I'm a midwest farm girl. I have never experienced homeless people before, maybe that is why I am more trusting. I just feel if you treat people with respect no matter what their circumstances, you are going to be treated the same way. Maybe I am just naive, as one of my close friends always used to tell me!

Anyway, to wrap up this pondering muse for the day.....

I am around a lot of intelligent people; educated, worldly and successful. Most of the time I do not come away from these conversations feeling any wiser or better about myself and my life. Once again today in the park, I have been shown some lessons; lessons about love and lessons about people.

Morning Poem

Morning Poem

Every morning

the world

is created.

Under the orange

sticks of the sun

the heaped

ashes of the night

turn into leaves again
and fasten themselves

to the high branches

---and the ponds appear

like black cloth

on which are painted islands
of summer lilies.

If it is your nature

to be happy

you will swim away

along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination

alighting everywhere.

And if your spirit

carries within it

the thorn

that is heavier than lead

---if it's all you can do

to keep on trudging ---

there is still

somewhere deep within you

a beast shouting that the earth

is exactly what it wanted ---

each pond with its blazing lilies

is a prayer heard and answered

lavishly, every morning,

whether or not

you have ever dared to be happy,

whether or not

you have ever dared to pray.

~ Mary Oliver ~
(Dream Work)

Grief Will Come to You

Grief will come to you.

Grip and cling all you want,

It makes no difference.

Catastrophe? It's just waiting to happen.

Loss? You can be certain of it.

Flow and swirl of the world.

Carried along as if by a dark current.

All you can do is keep swimming;

All you can do is keep singing.

~ Gregory Orr ~
(How Beautiful the Beloved)