Must I Go Fly With Them?

O Captain, My Captain
These sails are torn,
My faith now gushes like the wind 
Must I let go and fly with them?
For a rope, I cannot see.

O Captain, My Captain
My faith in you now runs dry,
But let me assure you, one day, 
No wind will  make  me  fly

O Captain, My Captain,
Fear not for everyone breaks away
And all must come back one day,
I’ll hear your words like the sirens they are,
And I’m sure they’ll pave my way.

O Captain, My Captain
This would be my only plea,
Let me be till I rediscover thee.
Losen my strings but still hold  onto me
Let no harm come my way.

You are to me as I am to you
But for now, let me swim till I swim back to you

“Must I Go Fly With Them” is a poem about being at a stage in life where even though things ground you and keep you supported, we are longing towards something uncertain and greater. The poem talks about faith and how losing it is not a bad thing but giving ourselves time to figure out what these things mean to us is so important. The poem begins with the lines, “O Caption, My Caption” taking inspiration from Walt Whitman’s poem published in 1865 (titled the same). Although Whitman’s original poem was about the death of Abraham Lincoln and a testament to what it meant for Americans, this poem wishes to use it as a metaphor for stability, compassion, and support. The poet wishes to capture the feeling of wanting more and still at the time being sad about the change that is to come. The poet somewhere feels that she has lost the love she once had and now craves genuinity in herself and who she is. While giving away the unconditional love, compassion, stability, and support she already has. The poem wishes to capture the essence of letting go of something that has stopped serving us but letting go with love until we find what it is we set out to search for and come back.