Delycia and I are reading Walt Whitman's poetry now and then, usually for a few minutes after lunch, and it has reminded me, yet again, of what a large and wonderful influence he has been on my life, and my poetry. He wrote with his soul and heart wide-open, almost as if he had decided that writing poetry was as easy as opening yourself and letting words do what they wished. Not surprisingly, Delycia seems to love his poetry, too -- not surprising, because she, in her special way, is as wild and free as Whitman was.