I assumed that "Leaves of Grass" reference had some tie-in with Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". If there really is a connection, it's hard to tell (as it is with a lot of early Ligtfoot material) just how deep a connection there is- if any. He may be indepently using the metaphor of something trampled underfoot and ground by millstones to represent soldiers sent to war to die, while the actual thing (the real grass) can grow again. No wonder he wrote "If You Could Read My Mind" since that's what we would have to do. But then, we wouldn't have as much fun trying to figure this out.
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