I arrived yesterday in Philadelphia on a beautiful, sunny day to begin my journey of literary nomadism, in which I plan to travel to different locales to explore local literature and document my experiences to my readers in order to educate and entertain them. Philadelphia seemed an ideal first choice for the inception of my journey, for what better place to begin than the birthplace of the United States? When I arrived on Sunday morning, I encountered what seemed like a marathon right in my path to the museum district. A steady stream of runners flowed past me on the very road I need to cross to continue on my way, and the sight of what must have been hundreds of runners down the length of a four-lane road that curved out of sight was an impressive occurence. Finally I found a way through them and arrived at the beginning of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where I enjoyed the clear weather under the shade of a tree near the fountain in Logan Park. Soon families with small children and runners back from the course joined me, and everyone there enjoyed a pleasant morning and afternoon as some dipped their feet in the fountain and others like me lay in the grass and read and snoozed at intervals. The whole day was a pleasant beginning to my time in Philly. Today I got down to business and immediately headed back to the parkway to see which local literary contribution I would highlight. Some of my obvious choices were the great Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, who penned perhaps the most famous document in America in this very city. However, a phrase from one of my American literature class that truly embodied the Revolutionary War for me was: "These are the times that try men's souls." The phrase is from a pamphlet titled "American Crisis" by a man named Thomas Paine. He went on to encourage the men who froze and starved in Valley Forge with the proclamation that justice and freedom were the most worthy principles on earth, and their sacrifices made those principles available to millions of people whose rights the king revoked. Congress has signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia six months before, and Paine carried its message to an army in retreat from the British, to a nation that could not foresee the end, nor perhaps the gain, of the war, and ultimately to all future generations of Americans to come so they would never forget the cost of the liberties that Washington's army fought and died for. Overall, Paine emphasized that his generation waged and endured the throes of warfare so the next generation could have peace. As I write this in the Free Public Library of Philadelphia more than 243 years after Paine wrote this pamphlet, I contemplate on the aftermath of the war and the implications of Paine's words. The war finally ended in a hard-earned victory for America, and generations flourished in the freedom the generation of Washington and Paine had so longed to see. However, outside the building where I now sit and various other spots in Philadelphia, a group of homeless men sits on stone benches and watches people go on their way. Their resignation shows in their facial expressions and the way their bodies slump. One must think, is this how Washington's men looked at Valley Forge that winter? Did their faces register utter defeat from their circumstances as they slumped around their meager campfires trying to keep warm? Back then, Paine roused the soldiers with his words in the expectation that no man in America would ever have to sit with that sort of dejection. The faces and postures of the men outside remind me that some people in this country are still fighting, and they see no end in the near future. At Valley Forge, Washington had "American Crisis" read to his troops to encourage them. Who will read the same words to the homeless Americans who inherited the same rights that Washington fought for? Who will give them cause to believe their suffering is not in vain? I conclude with the observation that the immortality of Paine's words is still at odds wit hthe immortality of the fight for equality for all Americans in every age. Still they call out to us not to lose hope and to anticipate an age of more equality and freedom for our children. Stay tuned for more episodes of "The Literary Nomad." :)