the 'still, small voice vibrating' is how walt whitman describes 'our choosing day' in his poem Election Day 1884. more grand, more subtle and more powerful than all of America's natural wonders is this day every four years. its challenging to convey ones affection for election day without sounding like a big NERD. without spouting phrases like 'civic pride and duty.' this poem accomplishes just that.
what excites me today is that i think today, unlike previous days i've voted, there are so many people who 'get it.' no explanation seems necessary. we're all participating and witnessing it at the same time...together. just like the first time i visited Niagara Falls. i thought it would be this hokey tourist trap but instead as i approached the falls that day its power almost seduced me to leap right in. it was amazing!
today isn't about who is chosen but the fact that we are choosing. and yes, the system is far from perfect. but, on a day like today, its hard not to want to jump right in.
Robert Pinsky (former US poet Laureate) wrote a great article in the Boston Globe today about the Walt Whitman poem:
1 comment:
Election day this year was so exciting, even for me and I had sent out my absentee ballot in the mail days earlier. It just felt like so many more people were fired up about everything, compared to the last two elections. A truly amazing feeling, for sure.
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