Portland, Oregon

Unscrolling The Road

Yesterday we stumbled across a travelling exhibition focused on the Beats and this incredible piece of history-the very handmade scroll made by Jack Kerouac he wrote “On the Road” upon. I can’t describe what an amazing experience it is to see it in person. They also had a Gutenberg Bible. Standing in front of these artifacts feels like standing on a gulf beach being buffeted by waves of time, such presence.

Vagabonding

Song of the Open Road
By Walt Whitman

1
Afoot 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.

The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(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.)

http://www.vagabonding.net/