Thanks in Old Age [Bryan]

Thanks in Old Age

Thanks in old age - thanks ere I go,
For health, the midday sun, the impalpable air - for life, mere life,
For precious, ever-lingering memories, (of you my mother dear - you, father - you brothers, sisters, friends,)
For all my days - not those of peace alone - the days of war the same,
For gentle words, caresses, gifts from foreign lands,
For shelter, wine and meat - for sweet appreciation,
(You distant, dim unknown - or young or old - countless, unspecified, readers belove’d,
We never met, and ne’er shall meet - and yet our souls embrace, long, close and long;)
For beings, group, love, deeds, words, books - -for colors, forms,
For all the brave strong men - - devoted, hardy men, -- who’ve forward sprung in freedom’s help, all years, all lands,
For braver, stronger, more devoted men - (a special laurel ere I go to life’s war’s chosen ones,
The cannoneers of song and thought - the great artillerists - the foremost leaders, captains of the soul:)
As soldiers from an ended war return’d - As traveler out of myriads, to the long procession retrospective,
Thanks - joyful thanks! - a soldier’s, traveler’s thanks.

~ Walt Whitman (1888)