"I am the poet of reality
I say the earth is not an echo
Nor man an apparition;
But that all the things seen are real,
The witness and albic dawn of things equally real
I have split the earth and the hard coal and rocks and the solid bed of hte sea
And went down to reconnoitre there a long time,
And bring back a report,
And I understand that those are positive and dense every one
[And that the world is not joke,,
Nor any part of it a sham
This poem by Walt Whitman is part of a poetry anthology I have, "A Book of Luminous Things". The old use of the term "illustrious" is "shining brightly with light" and "clearly evident". Luminous is to "emit or reflect usually steady, suffused or glowing light". I believe, like Whitman, that the earth is not an echo, that things seen are real. And that there are daily beauties that drip-drop into our lives. I write for pay, not pleasure, and, when my head is not bowed to the paid work at hand, it is oft fixed to the chores and errands and duties of a busy life. But I find that, over time, I have become immured by my own choices and I have let the illustrious, luminous things of an everyday life sit unattended nearby. I have begun to want, no crave, beauty and creativity. And, I have learned, if you want something in your life, you need to put it there. And so it begins.
