The Open Road

AFOOT and light-hearted I take to the open road, 
Healthy, free, the world before me, 
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. 
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, 
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, 
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, 
Strong and content I travel the open road. 
The earth, that is sufficient, 
I do not want the constellations any nearer, 
I know they are very well where they are, 
I know they suffice for those who belong to them. 
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens, 
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever 
I go, 
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them, 
I am fill'd with them, and I will fill them in return.)

- Walt Whitman