I did a little word association test last Wednesday by asking a variety of people the first thing that came to mind when I said the word Whitman.

From some I got silent, funny looks. Others responded, Sampler, as in the Whitman Sampler box of assorted candies; others said, Slim, as in Slim Whitman, the "countrypolitan," yodeling singer who gained fame in the 1950s with Indian Love Call.

About half responded Walt or poet -- the one I was looking for, it being May 31st, Walt Whitmans birthday.

Whitman, born in 1819, has long been a friend of mine. Weve traveled the open road together, sung songs, swam, reflected on the cosmos, shared our poetry, prayed, explored history, worked, loved animals and looked into the face of death.

Which is why, each year around this time, I sponsor the Walt Whitman Birthday Bash, not only to honor him and reflect on his poetry and personality, but also to gather with others to lend their varied voices to his poems and prose by saying them aloud. (This years Bash will be today, June 4th, at 2 p.m. at Pittsburg Public Library. Everyones welcome.)

Whitman was quite controversial in his time, in no small part because of Leaves of Grass, a collection that was called obscene by many for its overt sexuality.

Hes also known as the father of American poetry and free verse. To my mind, hes not only the best poet America has yet produced, but also Americas finest embodiment of spiritual enlightenment (for more about that, come to the party Sunday).

To be sure he was among the greatest of Americas patriots. He said in the preface to Leaves of Grass, The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.

According to a recent article in The Atlantic by Karen Swallow Prior, Whitmans claim stemmed from a belief that both poetry and democracy derive their power from their ability to create a unified whole out of disparate parts,

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, / Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, / The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, / The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, / Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Prior writes further, Whitman is perhaps Americas first democratic poet. The free verse he adopts in his work reflects a newly naturalized and accessible poetic language. His overarching themesthe individual, the nation, the body, the soul, and everyday life and workmirror the primary values of Americas founding. Then and now, his poetry is for everyone. As Whitman asserts later in the preface to Leaves of Grass:

The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people.

Another reason Im drawn to Whitman is that he was a newspaperman and columnist. In fact, just this week I discovered that he wrote a series of columns entitled Manly Health and Training in which he extolled the virtues of exercising in the open air: walking (both forward and backward), tossing stones, clapping and jumping, as well as taking cold baths and playing baseball. And paying particular attention to ones footwear:Most of the usual fashionable boots and shoes, which neither favor comfort, nor health, nor the ease of walking, are to be discarded.

In closing, I want to again invite you to the birthday party today and share a Whitman selection that speaks to his essence as well as any. It too, is found in the preface to Leaves of Grass:

This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.

-- J.T. Knoll is a writer, speaker and prevention and wellness coordinator at Pittsburg State University. He also operates Knoll Training & Consulting Services in Pittsburg. He can be reached at 231-0499 or jtknoll@swbell.net.

Read the rest here:

Walt Whitman is a friend of mine - Pittsburg Morning Sun