Happy 206th Birthday to Walt Whitman (b. 31 May 1819) ...from: I Sing the Body Electric by WALT WHITMAN: "Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves? And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead? And if the body does not do fully as much as the soul? And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul? “The love of the body of man or woman balks account, the body itself balks account, That of the male is perfect, and that of the female is perfect.... "...The sprawl and fulness of babes, the bosoms and heads of women, the folds of their dress, their style as we pass in the street, the contour of their shape downwards, “The swimmer naked in the swimming-bath, seen as he swims through the transparent green-shine, or lies with his face up and rolls silently to and fro in the heave of the water, “The bending forward and backward of rowers in row-boats, the horseman in his saddle, “Girls, mothers, house-keepers, in all their performances, The group of laborers seated at noon-time with their open dinner-kettles, and their wives waiting, “The female soothing a child, the farmer’s daughter in the garden or cow-yard, “The young fellow hoeing corn, the sleigh-driver driving his six horses through the crowd,... “Such-like I love—I loosen myself, pass freely, am at the mother’s breast with the little child, “Swim with the swimmers, wrestle with wrestlers, march in line with the firemen, and pause, listen, count." (fb)

93: Saturday 6/14 in Storrs, CT (please bring a food or beverage item for the potluck feast!) — Any questions, please see Br. Keith 93,93/93 (fb)