Who was Walt Whitman before Walt Whitman was Walt Whitman?

[Lizzie]

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; -- I don't think this is a complete sentence, so you might want to lose the semi-colon and link it with the next line.

How would we critique? -- shouldn't be capitalized coming off of a semi-colon
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 -- destiny's
awaiting their time.

We have the dream,
though obscure it may be. -- It seems like you're forcing the rhyme here. Obscure doesn't seem like quite the right word to describe improbability.
Perhaps it is you.
Perhaps it is me.

 

I wonder about this sometimes, if I would be able to recognize someone's genius; their work would probably just seem odd at first.

Thanks for the encouragement, too! I needed to hear the message that dreams are not out of reach.

Thanks for sharing

lizziep