i exist as i am

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then . . . . I contradict myself;

I know I have the best of time and space — and that I was never measured,  and never will be measured.

I too am not a bit tamed . . . . I too am untranslatable

I tramp a perpetual journey

I exist as I am, that is enough.

 

I chose these six random, unconsecutive lines from Whitman’s “Song of Myself”  as included in the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass.   As Whitman hoped all would find themselves in his “Song of Myself”, it seems apropos that in our search for Whitman we begin with what we know best – ourselves.    I chose these lines, rearranged them as I saw fit – essentially creating “found poetry” as I found myself in Whitman’s verse.

Whitman’s notion of contradiction reminds me of Emerson: “Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today” (“Self-Reliance”).  Contradiction is a matter of perception – and I’m far less concerned with how I am perceived than I am with being true to who I am.  The other lines I chose seem to echo a similar theme – unmeasurable, untamed, untranslatable.  I don’t think we can translate ourselves into 6 lines or even the entirety of Whitman’s “Song of Myself.”  I evolve as I go – as I tramp my perpetual journey.  I think he said it all with one line: “I exist as I am, that is enough.” 

I intentionally end with this notion. 

Despite the definitions I try to find and the evolutions I intend to undergo – the journey begins and ends here: I exist as I am… and that is enough.

Tags: