{december lights: you are here. do your thing}

Newark 33

O Me! O Life!

~ by Walt Whitman, 1819 – 1892

O Me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

                                    Answer.

That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.

You will contribute that verse, no matter what. Curtain’s rising. Time to shine.

3 Replies to “{december lights: you are here. do your thing}”

    1. @divatobe: Yes, it is “suck it up” in the most flowery of 19th century language; of course, none would be so gauche as to give such direction so specifically!
      @jama-j: That was at the farmer’s market this fall. They were SO pretty, and I just had to buy up a bunch.

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