Poetry Month.

It is National Poetry Month for those of you who didn't already know. I am a huge fan of poetry and one of the books that always remains by my bed is Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. I am a huge Walt Whitman fan and I often thumb through the pages of his poetry when I need inspiration, solace, or time away from the real world.

In addition to Walt Whitman, I love many of the Romantic poets-Emerson, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Bryant. That era and movement sparked great and wonderful poetry. Although, I do love a number of other poets from other eras as well.

For poetry month, I thought it would be fitting to post some poems that I love as a tribute. I won't analyze them for you, since I think each individual finds their own meaning in a poem, but I'll just let them be and you can enjoy them as you will!

The first poem I am choosing is by Whitman. It is titled "To a Stranger."

Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,

You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,)

I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,

All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,

You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,

I ate with you and slept with you, your body has become not yours only nor left my body mine only,

You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass, you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return,

I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone or wake at night alone,

I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again,

I am to see to it that I do not lose you.