Selected Lines from Song of the Open Road

A foot 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

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in return.)

You road I enter upon and look around, I believe you are not all that is here,
I believe that much unseen is also here.

I think heroic deeds were all conceiv'd in the open air, and all free poems also,
I think I could stop here myself and do miracles,
I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like, and whoever beholds me shall like me,
I think whoever I see must be happy.

From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
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.

All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over to men and women
You have done such good to me I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.

Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.

Here is realization,
Here is a man tallied -- he realizes here what he has in him,
The past, the future, majesty, love -- if they are vacant of you, you are vacant of them.

Why are there trees I never walk under but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?
(I think they hang there winter and summer on those trees and always drop fruit as I pass;)
What is it I interchange so suddenly with strangers?
What with some driver as I ride on the seat by his side?
What with some fisherman drawing his seine by the shore as I walk by and pause?
What gives me to be free to a woman's and man's good-will?
W hat gives them to be free to mine?

The efflux of the soul is happiness, here is happiness,
I think it pervades the open air, waiting at all times,
Now it flows unto us, we are rightly charged.

Allons! whoever you are come travel with me!
Traveling with me you find what never tires.

The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first,
Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop'd,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.

Allons! we must not stop here,
However sweet these laid-up stores, however convenient this dwelling we cannot remain here,
However shelter'd this port and however calm these waters we must not anchor here,
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us we are permitted to receive it but a little while.

Listen! I will be honest with you,
I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes,
These are the days that must happen to you:
You shall not heap up what is call'd riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve,
You but arrive at the city to which you were destin'd, you hardly settle yourself to satisfaction before you are call'd by an irresistible call to depart

Allons! the road is before us!
It is safe -- I have tried it -- my own feet have tried it well -- be not detain'd!

Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

Walt Whitman
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Bear Mountain State Park is situated in rugged mountains rising from the west bank of the Hudson River. The historic Bear Mountain Inn overlooks Hessian Lake and provides fine food and overnight accommodations. The park features a large play field, shaded picnic groves, a dock on the Hudson for mooring small craft, lake and river fishing access, a swimming pool, a zoo and nature, hiking, mountain biking and cross-country ski trails and ski-jumps. An outdoor rink is open to ice skaters from late October through mid-March. The Perkins Memorial Tower atop Bear Mountain affords spectacular views of the park, the Hudson Highlands and Harriman State Park. Adjacent to Bear Mountain is Harriman State Park that offers 46,000 acres of recreation year-round.

Now part of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, the area was saved in the early 1900s as development along the river began to destroy much of the area's natural beauty. Numerous efforts were made at the turn of the century to turn much of the Hudson Highlands, the area along the Hudson River from about Peekskill to Newburgh, to a forest preserve. All of these, however, were unsuccessful until the state of New York tried to relocate Sing Sing Prison to Bear Mountain. It was then that some of the wealthy businessmen who had made homes in the area went to work. Led by Union Pacific railroad president E.W. Harriman, a group of wealthy and influential businessman donated land as well as large sums of money for the purchase of other properties in the area. Bear Mountain-Harriman State Park became a reality in 1910. By 1914, estimates showed more than a million people a year coming to the park. Camping became popular here, with the average stay logged at eight days, and it was a favorite for Boy Scouts.

Reading in Bear Mountain: May 18, 2002. Organized by Salvatore Amico M. Buttaci and The Saturday Afternoon Poets.

Salvatore Amico M. Buttaci was the Editor of New Worlds Unlimited, an annual poetry anthology that showcased the poems of aspiring and professional poets from here and abroad. Buttaci has been published in The Writer, Inscriptions, Poet Magazine, Cat Fancy, Cats Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Friction Magazine, PoetryMagazine.com, and many others here and abroad. Buttaci is the author of several books, the most recent two books: a collection of his poetry called Promising the Moon, and a book of his Sicilian roots: A Family of Sicilians: Stories and Poems. A chapbook, Greatest Hits: 1970-2000, was published in April 2001 by Pudding House Publications. His book of poems, Reinventing the Heart, will be released next month by Shy Flower Press.