Happy Independence Day, U.S.A.!

Happy Independence Day! Whitman was a strong influence on John Dos Passos. I’ve nearly finishing reading Leaves of Grass and then I’m on to Democratic Vistas. I’m enjoying the read so far. It’s wonderful to sense that the nation is counting a bumper crop, when the news today suggests something more reminiscent of utter disaster.

“The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem…One sees it must indeed own the riches of the summer and winter, and need never be bankrupt while corn grows from the ground or the orchards drop apples or the bays contain fish…”

— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass