To a Common Prostitute Walt Whitman

Be composed-be at ease with me-I am Walt Whitman, liberal and lusty as Nature, Not till the sun excludes you do I exclude you, Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you and the leaves to rustle for you, do my      words refuse to glisten and rustle for you. My girl I appoint with you an appointment, and I charge you that you make prep-      aration to be worthy to meet me, And I charge you that you be patient and perfect till I come. Till then I salute you with a significant look that you do not forget me.

Does this poem actually talk only about a prostitute?  Well, maybe that is what Whitman was talking about, but if one looks hard enough one can find a deeper meaning.  Maybe he really had a much more fulfilling message as most poets do, or maybe I am just crazy.      I think he possibly meant that we as humans should be more open to admit the "dirty" things that we do or think.  We all have those nasty, little thoughts that we are too afraid to share.  We all have those weird dreams that we dare not even try to explain.  I am even having trouble writing this essay because that is the way I am, too.      Maybe the point he is trying to get across is that there is no point in trying to excommunicate those thoughts and feelings.  Instead, we should confront them more because they are natural.  Nature is dirty and lustful.  What he is saying to us is that he believes these natural thoughts to be beautiful even though others try to hide them.

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