song of myself

There are books in Norman's guestroom - that alone makes me smile.
One on the bedstand is called "Ten poems to change your life"
One of those poems was the Song of Myself by Walt Whitman, which I have been trying to read since Rob Brezny recommended it a few weeks ago

And one was The Journey - for the first time, I really understood what Anne was going through all those years ago - that made me smile - I need to go through that myself a little...

The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.