Thanks for exploring more about ODE TO WALT WHITMAN. View the Spanish language translation of the video text chats between Lorca and Whitman that appear in the show. Read on for expanded Creator's Notes from Bart Buch.

Original Creator’s Notes — 2006

Walt Whitman and Federico Garcia Lorca are my queer poet ancestors, and I love them. They are here with us.

In my quest for love among various spaces where queers gather, I often feel exhilarated, empty, and exhausted. This journey led me to Lorca’s poetry. Reading his Ode to Walt Whitman left me both enlightened and confused. Immersing myself in Whitman brought safety and hope, providing a sense of communion unmatched elsewhere. Yet, I could hear Lorca’s complex dialogue with Whitman, rich with hatred and frustration that we all recognize.

I needed to engage in this conversation to feel alive. As an artist in poetry and puppetry, I contribute to this dialogue. Scholars may step back; I’ve done my research and now wish to share. Poets, welcome!

I am grateful to those who have helped me understand and translate this language. You embody the expansiveness Walt wrote about in this country.

Creator’s Notes Supplemental — 2015

I created this show nearly 10 years ago, and both I and the world have changed. When asked why I still perform it, I say it’s because I love it. My core self remains constant, and the show reflects that. Though culture evolves, connection—central to Whitman’s Leaves of Grass—remains essential. The word “all” appears frequently in his work, and we’ll need that message for a long time. Today, we seem more superficially connected but struggle with lasting relationships. It’s harder to reach friends and family now, and I know I’m not alone.

In the last decade, LGBTQ communities have made significant strides—congratulations to us all! However, hyper-connectivity can hinder true connections across identities. We can identify more freely, but does this empower or isolate us? I seek to hold hands with diverse individuals—friends, family, and even nature. I want to see Uncle Walt’s wish come true, I wish to infuse myself ‘til I see it is common for you to walk hand-in-hand. We must relate, not just connect, to make this dream a reality. I invite you to engage, connect, and relate! Thank you to all the creators here tonight; I have faith in us.

Creator's Notes Supplemental — 2025

As an artist, I feel much the same as when I made this piece 20 years ago but I live a very different life and these are very different times. A part of this show was born from what I was searching for personally then. Now I have found that or it has found me. I am happily married and ecstatically, a new dad. How I viewed this country and culture in the early 2000’s has morphed, as has the country, and now has worsened, more than I thought possible. What Whitman and Lorca experienced in their times, civil wars and hate wielding power, seem like potential and existing realities again. 

Remounting this show as a parent to a toddler has been weird and hard. But I felt this conversation could be helpful now to the current conversations happening. With this puppet poem, we are putting our hearts, minds and hands out there to help fight a war on empathy, connection, relation and imagination. These are the strongest powers we have to balance things. Dance! Sing! Tell your stories! The more we weave these stories and creativity, the more the stories of hate, greed and fear lose power. 

This iteration of Ode to Walt Whitman is dedicated to my beautiful son, Leo Charlie, and for the beautiful world I want to help create for him.