"Pioneers! O pioneers!" I'd heard these words before, now echoing from my television speakers as black and white images of young people having fun in high definition paraded across the screen. I had heard those words before, and instinctively I went to my bookshelf to my last remaining copy of a text from college, my long held paper back copy, pages now yellow with age, my blue BIC pen notes still in its margins, "Leaves of Grass" by the great, great grandfather of American poetry Walt Whitman and sure enough there it was on page 229 of the 1973 Norton Critical edition. Then I looked across to another book shelf of ours and saw our copy of "Poetry Speaks" and thought hang on a moment. Could that actually be Uncle Walt speaking those lines? Low and behold, not "Pioneers! O pioneers!" but an excerpt from "America" was contained there-in which I then heard on another similar ad featuring a half submerged sign AMERICA, along with black and white images of young people having fun in high definition. The significance? The meaning? Let there be no doubt, they are trading on the nostalgia of America, of the genuine article, of the true blue tried and true. Though the authenticity of the actual recording is in doubt, that never stood in the way of a good ad campaign. Now Levi's makes no claim that the recordings are authentic nor that the poet is even Whitman. Yet I am happy these long cherished words are finding a wider audience probably not even aware of their historical significance, just as many are ignorant of America's historical significance. Poetry for mass consumption has not traditionally been well received. Let's see if Levi's sales improve!
On another note, speaking of college and the real thing, Paul has gone through round two of chemo. Still in the hospital, and my thoughts are still with him.
