The title for this series of short films points to transformation and change. It alludes to the 19th Century women’s underpants, bloomers, which propelled the dress reform movement--a garment that Walt Whitman himself is known to have worn--as well as to the idea of maturing—evolving—in life.

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The men who are part of this project were touched by Whitman’s constant self reflection, his connection with the body and nature, and with his musings and pains trying to come to terms with his feeling for men, especially in his “Live Oak, with Moss” .

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As we move into a society more accepting of same-sex love, the questions Whitman poured into this intimate cluster of poems resonates strongly. After all, is heteronormativity the answer to our issues of loneliness? Or can the live-oak tree that moved the poet so deeply be a long-lasting example of healthy solitude?

Are you a bloomer too?