Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Poem for Tuesday


Aboard at a Ship's Helm
By Walt Whitman


Aboard at a ship's helm,
A young steersman steering with care.

Through fog on a sea-coast dolefully ringing,
An ocean-bell--O a warning bell, rock'd by the waves.

O you give good notice indeed, you bell by the sea-reefs ringing,
Ringing, ringing, to warn the ship from its wreck-place.

For as on the alert O steersman, you mind the loud admonition,
The bows turn, the freighted ship tacking speeds away under her gray sails,
The beautiful and noble ship with all her precious wealth speeds
away gayly and safe.

But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship!
Ship of the body, ship of the soul, voyaging, voyaging, voyaging.

--------


Shorter Whitman, because "Proud Music of The Storm" seemed rather long to reproduce, but here's the link because it is so worth reading. Also, GIP, even if it's anachronistic, because Jack deserves some Whitman.

There is a little birdie in the feeder torturing Jack and Stephen (the squirrels), who are trying to dive off the plastic swimming pool (which is standing on its side for the winter) onto the feeder to get at the seed. This is entertainment a-plenty while trying to write news bullets.

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