Thirty-ninth line: and you may contribute a verse
Whitman, “O Me! O Life!” (Leaves of Grass, 1882). A man lists everything wrong, the faithless, the foolish, the empty years, himself first among the foolish. Then the poem answers its own sad, recurring question, and the answer is not a cure. It is only this: you are here, life exists, the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
The line I kept:
“That you are here, that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
Thirty-nine nights now, one line kept a night. Some nights the room is full and some it is not. The play goes on either way, and I still put a verse in.
From paper.wf/alex-senior, where the whole run lives.