Walt Whitman, 1863
Posted: 07 Nov 2019, 05:05
V2:
Walt Whitman, 1863
He was frequently asked
by wounded and dying soldiers
to write home for them,
or to seek out their friends.
Often the "men", many teenagers,
were out of their heads—
dreams and waking
mixed like fog and smoke.
One legless soldier kept calling Walt
his sister. Walt held his hand
as the boy groaned,
finally complaining
as he lay dying
of the pain in his thigh
--and, worse, the lack
of letters from home:
absence the pain
that he found hardest
to endure.
V1:
Walt Whitman, 1863
He was often asked
by wounded and dying soldiers
to write home for them,
or to seek out their friends.
Many were out of their heads,
their fevers as common
as unclean bandages.
Often the "men", many teenagers,
were confused—
dreams and waking
mixed like fog and smoke.
One legless soldier kept calling Walt
his sister. Walt held his hand
as the boy groaned,
finally complaining
as he lay dying
of the pain in his thigh
--and, worse, the lack
of letters from home:
absence the pain
that he found hardest
to endure.
Walt Whitman, 1863
He was frequently asked
by wounded and dying soldiers
to write home for them,
or to seek out their friends.
Often the "men", many teenagers,
were out of their heads—
dreams and waking
mixed like fog and smoke.
One legless soldier kept calling Walt
his sister. Walt held his hand
as the boy groaned,
finally complaining
as he lay dying
of the pain in his thigh
--and, worse, the lack
of letters from home:
absence the pain
that he found hardest
to endure.
V1:
Walt Whitman, 1863
He was often asked
by wounded and dying soldiers
to write home for them,
or to seek out their friends.
Many were out of their heads,
their fevers as common
as unclean bandages.
Often the "men", many teenagers,
were confused—
dreams and waking
mixed like fog and smoke.
One legless soldier kept calling Walt
his sister. Walt held his hand
as the boy groaned,
finally complaining
as he lay dying
of the pain in his thigh
--and, worse, the lack
of letters from home:
absence the pain
that he found hardest
to endure.