“Your very flesh shall be a great poem...”

“And your very flesh shall be a great poem.”

“Love the earth and sun and animals,Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,Stand up for the stupid and crazy,Devote your income and labor to others...And your very flesh shall be a great poem.”

“re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and 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.[From the preface to Leaves Grass]”

“This is what you should do:Love the earth and sun and animals,Despise riches, give alms to everyone 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...Reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book,Dismiss what insults your very soul,And your flesh shall become a great poem.”

“Allow this poem to carry you beyond yourself, transcending your mortal flesh as you wed yourself with the potentially infinite.”