Who was Walt Whitman before Walt Whitman was Walt Whitman?

[rhymeguy]

If for a moment we
forgot all we know
about Whitman, Frost,
Tennyson and Poe,

McCartney, Lennon,
Dylan and Simon,
Eyeda, Saul Williams
and Andre 3000.

If our heroes showed up
as poets unknown
and offered us seeds
as yet unsown;

How would we critique?
What would we say?
Would we suggest
a better way?

Would we realize
the way it would go?
When we first read them
would we know?

Around us each day
in these  threads  we entwine
are destinies poets
awaiting their time.

We have the dream,
though obscure it may be.
Perhaps it is you.
Perhaps it is me.