PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Seems everyone gets

to use Walt Whitman

for their own ends

I always hear the poets

in their safe little clicks

and they talk about

what a wonderful guy

seems everyone gets

inspired by Whitman

He’s their influence

and guides them

thru the bitter winter

and they gather

with portraits of mad Uncle Walt

and they quote his poems

and suit their own needs

they use him

to justify their verse

to sanctify their vision

Populist Walt

writing for the masses

while elitist poets

quote him to justify

their own exclusivity

the unwashed;

the common bus rider

that doesn’t understand

the snob

using the populist

to support elitism

seems about right to me

I can’t find

any better use

for it myself

4-23-96