What verse will you write?

O Me! O Life!

by Walt Whitman

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

photo by Xavier Donat (creative commons license)

Maybe you noticed the poem in the recent Apple commercial as read by Robin Williams. Anything read by Robin Williams sounds good doesn’t it?

But Whitman asks us all a question that we need to stop hiding from.

You are here. You have life. You are a unique individual.

You are you.

What will you do with this life? What verse, what song, will you write?

What story will you tell?