Whitman touches on the aspects of the enslaved body much more lightly here before going back to his relatively starry-eyed universalism. I wish he had continued to dig into the subject here in Body Electric, but in the rest of Leaves of Grass he continues to touch on it ("I am the hounded slave, I wince at the bite of the dogs..." from Song of Myself, for example).
lyrics
A woman’s body at auction,
She too is not only herself, she is the teeming mother of mothers,
She is the bearer of them that shall grow and be mates to the mothers.
Have you ever loved the body of a woman?
Have you ever loved the body of a man?
Do you not see that these are exactly the same to all in all nations and times all over the earth?
If any thing is sacred the human body is sacred,
And the glory and sweet of a man is the token of manhood untainted,
And in man or woman a clean, strong, firm-fibred body, is more beautiful than the most beautiful face.
Have you seen the fool that corrupted his own live body? or the fool that corrupted her own live body?
For they do not conceal themselves, and cannot conceal themselves.
credits
from I Sing The Body Electric,
released May 1, 2020
Walt Whitman: poetry
Matt Riggen: narration, composition, trumpet, trombones, tuba, upright bass
I saw the band that's on Bending Bridges live at the Newport Jazz Festival around 2013 and it was the only group there that made me cry. Mary is a fantastic writer and a major influence. Matt Riggen
I'm lucky enough to know Matt and his humility doesn't belie what a deep composer he is, especially on 'Festival'. He also plays tuba and upright on this one, which sets the bar for the rest of us. Matt Riggen
I contributed ~50% of the compositions/arrangements to this record and played in the trumpet section. I believe art can expedite justice by lighting a fire under its audience, and I've seen it here. Matt Riggen