We’re reading Walt Whitman in class this week. Students encountering him for the first time are blown away by all the words on the page until they realize that each line is a breath–some more long-winded than others. When I read Whitman, I’m on the streets of 19th century Manhattan–the horses and carriages, the opera singers, the street vendors, the sights, the smells, the sounds. His poems embrace all of life.
So, write a breathless poem–use ordinary speech, your own or something you’ve overheard, and let the lines ramble and fill with the details of your everyday life. Don’t worry about a grand vision–just take pleasure in the life you see all around you.
Post a poem as a response, and I’ll post it here.
Tags: beauty, breath lines, everything, poetry, Walt Whitman, writing, writing prompt
Mattie's Pillow 
January 28, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Hey teach! Just curious did u happen to get black board up for prep 2? Very nice blog you have here by the way.
January 30, 2010 at 12:10 am
Hi, Jeffery–Not yet. Check again over the weekend.
Thanks for the comment on the blog!
February 23, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Good points raised here. Thanks for that, however I have further thanks to deliver. I suffer from color blindness (deuteranopia in my case). I use Opera browser (no idea if that makes a difference), and far too many web pages are hard to read as a result of an unfortunate selection of colors used. In your case, as the selection of colors is fine, the site is amazingly tidy and simple to comprehend. I have no idea whether it was a premeditated and kind deed, or just the ‘luck of the draw’, but thanks anyway.