Todos somos Whitman / We Are All Whitman (Bilingual Edition)

&quote;Whitman, we are your epitaph, I and everyone / or better yet, you live in us since you told us / that each atom of your body was also ours, / just as we, like you, are the summer's and all the seasons' grass,&quote; Luis Alberto Ambroggio writes in this poetic homage to the great American poet.Ambroggio was inspired to respond to Whitman's work after translating a series of essays about Song of Myself. This collection of 53 poems in English and Spanish is the result. Sometimes he includes a line from the master in his own piece, other times an epigraph introduces the verse. Either way, Whitman's influence is notable. Many of Ambroggio's poems-like Whitman's-deal with physical pleasure: &quote;To stretch myself out on your body. / Outspread myself from head to toes / from earth to sky / from my body to yours, and to other bodies / with libidinous prongs that pierce the horizon / and turn loose seas of bright juice.&quote;A native of Argentina, the poet views Whitman's work through his Latin American lens, noting that Whitman's &quote;multitudes&quote; include those who will not be denied, ignored or declared undocumented. Other poems consider nature and death. &quote;We are walking in autumn / among the red lips of maples / the smiles and yellow tears / of trees trembling with joy and sadness,&quote; he writes. &quote;We walk between the twin doors / of summer and winter / of death and life.&quote;Focusing on themes of identity, love and life, this collection will inspire readers to understand the universality in us all. Ultimately, we will all go to where we came from, &quote;air, shadow, sun, dust.&quote; Originally published in Spanish by Vaso Roto Ediciones, this edition includes the original Spanish text and a luminous English translation by Brett Alan Sanders.