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Walt Whitman was born 200 years ago today. I remember seeing a picture of him in our local library when I was a kid and wondering who that cool ass old guy was. I checked out Leaves Of Grass and never looked back. Later in life, I decided that grooming and spending a lot of time in front of the mirror was not for me. When people asked what was up with the beard, I'd tell them "it's my Walt Whitman starter kit." If they laughed, they were probably my kind of people. So the moral of the story is, support your local library, respect the cool ass old dudes (and gals) and wish ol' Walt a happy birthday. ⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth." -Walt Whitman ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #history #poetsofinstagram #poet #books #waltwhitman #indianapolis #indiana #library

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