WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.510 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.510 --> 00:00:02.400 align:middle line:90% Let's see. 00:00:02.400 --> 00:00:04.200 align:middle line:84% Let me read a couple of poems, which 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:06.660 align:middle line:90% are more surrealistic in tone. 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:09.150 align:middle line:84% The imagery comes out of its emotional needs 00:00:09.150 --> 00:00:10.650 align:middle line:84% more than anything else in the poem. 00:00:10.650 --> 00:00:12.420 align:middle line:90% More dreamlike imagery in it. 00:00:12.420 --> 00:00:15.030 align:middle line:84% This is a poem called "Preparation for Travel." 00:00:15.030 --> 00:00:16.740 align:middle line:84% Although the poem may seem somewhat 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:18.570 align:middle line:84% cluttered or confused as it goes along, 00:00:18.570 --> 00:00:21.340 align:middle line:84% I think it clarifies at the end of the poem. 00:00:21.340 --> 00:00:26.790 align:middle line:84% It was written for my wife before we were married. 00:00:26.790 --> 00:00:29.640 align:middle line:84% And the poem, I think, in a strange way, 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.189 align:middle line:84% although it doesn't have any sense of a traditional tone 00:00:32.189 --> 00:00:36.360 align:middle line:84% to it, is about a simpler thing as death and alienation 00:00:36.360 --> 00:00:40.200 align:middle line:84% and love as a possible solace to those things. 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:44.370 align:middle line:84% It's called "Preparation for Travel," for Linda. 00:00:44.370 --> 00:00:49.170 align:middle line:84% Someone has lost a note from his mother, another has bad wings. 00:00:49.170 --> 00:00:54.150 align:middle line:84% Also reader, I hope you a home in between cool linens. 00:00:54.150 --> 00:00:57.870 align:middle line:84% For although the door opens, no one comes in. 00:00:57.870 --> 00:01:01.410 align:middle line:84% I am locked in a house where everyone flies up. 00:01:01.410 --> 00:01:04.170 align:middle line:90% One by one, God is removing us. 00:01:04.170 --> 00:01:06.030 align:middle line:90% Pray for us. 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:10.590 align:middle line:84% His large head like a horned owls comes between the trees, 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:15.030 align:middle line:84% and I believe He is coming here so that I hug my knees learning 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:19.170 align:middle line:84% solicitude to watch my wristwatch like a silkworm 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:21.330 align:middle line:90% spin. 00:01:21.330 --> 00:01:24.840 align:middle line:84% The fortunate man sleeps in his dream, goes over the gates, 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:29.040 align:middle line:84% gathering speed by dried ponds, lawns, constant headlights, 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.110 align:middle line:90% and more peaceable homes. 00:01:31.110 --> 00:01:35.820 align:middle line:84% When at last that dream rests, it is a sheet over the sea. 00:01:35.820 --> 00:01:39.480 align:middle line:84% The angel also goes by, coming here. 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:42.570 align:middle line:84% And we, here, outside the asylum's gate 00:01:42.570 --> 00:01:46.260 align:middle line:84% are packing, although there is no solution. 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:52.530 align:middle line:84% I hear the Angels speak kindly, but we are denied companions. 00:01:52.530 --> 00:01:56.220 align:middle line:84% For my birthday, God gave me 10,000 white birds 00:01:56.220 --> 00:01:59.700 align:middle line:84% so that I would not be alone, but I am. 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:02.310 align:middle line:84% So I am writing to you the only poem I ever 00:02:02.310 --> 00:02:06.210 align:middle line:90% write, badly, but in sincerity. 00:02:06.210 --> 00:02:07.890 align:middle line:90% I'm trying to love you. 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:09.360 align:middle line:90% Love me. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.420 align:middle line:90% I have no shame.