O Captain, My Captain!

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
   But O heart! heart! heart!
      O the bleeding drops of red,
         Where on the deck my Captain lies,
            Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass,their eager faces turning;
   Here Captain! dear father!
      This arm beneath your head!
         It is some dream that on the deck,
            You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
   Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
      But I with mournful tread,
         Walk the deck my Captain lies,
            Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Have I mentioned lately how I was able to score a trip to Hawaii in mid-March? I'm so excited I'm beside myself. I can't wait! It makes me happy, reading in Mraz's website that he is currently having fun at the Islands and has found some inner peace and soothed his exhausted mind and body --well, it makes the trip even more enticing. I'm hoping the island spirits would have the same effect in me. I am in such a need of a change. Like the new job isn't a change but a HUGE change. I can feel it from within me that I ought to get ready for it. There is something boiling and I haven't a clue what it is. All I can do is brace for it and enjoy the ride, in hopes that it's all good...but nothing is ALL good but can be viewed that way only if you change your point of view.

I was reminded of a scene in The Dead Poet's Society where Robin Williams asked his students to stand on top of the table to prove a point ... when you think you know everything, always look at it at a different point of view. At the end, when all is bleak, Ethan Hawlk stood on top of his desk to illustrate to Mr. Williams that 1) he has learned to think for himself, 2) that there is a different point of view; and 3) that his teachings has had his inpact despite everything wrong that's going on.

So Captian! I'm here, looking out into everything. Trying to understand anything. Here I am, my Captain . . .