Whitman, Kerouac and the Open Road

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness
-Walt Whitman- Song Of The Open Road

The Open Road

And what of the open road, the path I walk; its sweet song that fills me full of grace. Let go of fear, bid it adieu, walk from this day forward and believe that it is so… right now standing in these shoes on this good earth. Become who I am; believe in this revelation… the life that’s waiting for me… enter it now, as I stop my procrastination and walk this path that only welcomes and never turns away. To not walk in this selfless way is to deprive the universe of who I am and tears into the very fabric of being.

I enter the road filled with love, emptied of all grievances against myself and humanity. Upon leave-taking, the sun lights my way down many roads, be it country, city or public, and least not forget the forest path. The stars and constellations map my way as the morning star greets me upon waking. Maybe I’ll make it to the great river today? But it is of no concern for the river keeps its own time as I do mine. Just give me the air that I breathe that connects me to all who travel the open road, the sky as my cover and sweet grass for my bed and I will sleep the sleep of the just.

I read Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road, as an inspiration, a meditation, as a prayer to the radiance of being true to oneself… soon my whole being ; mentally and physically will illuminate with the imagined life, drawing like-minded acquaintances on this journey… to listen to, to give advice to, to learn from. All it takes is a step with fortitude and purpose. And, by the way, on the road I speak of, one doesn’t need a vehicle, just the wind blowing through the mind!

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” -Jack Kerouac, On the Road: the Original Scroll

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