I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
‘Eat in the kitchen,’
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.

• (not traditionally a nature poem, but relates man to earth)

• Walt Whitman