I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator.

The speaker addresses Walt Whitman directly and imagines him as a lonely, ordinary person shopping among the meats. The informal, personal tone suggests the speaker feels a bond with Whitman and with people who are lonely or socially out of place. This points to familiarity and kinship, not simply an interest in Whitman’s shopping habits.

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