WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.635 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.635 --> 00:00:02.510 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read two more poems from Victims 00:00:02.510 --> 00:00:03.810 align:middle line:90% of the Latest Dance Craze. 00:00:03.810 --> 00:00:06.630 align:middle line:84% And I'm going to finish up with poems 00:00:06.630 --> 00:00:08.880 align:middle line:90% from the Gathering of My Name. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:15.010 align:middle line:84% And I always like reading this next poem because it, to me-- 00:00:15.010 --> 00:00:16.740 align:middle line:84% though I didn't know it at the time. 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:22.230 align:middle line:84% It was a poem that was going to age me, mark me culturally. 00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:25.260 align:middle line:84% The poem is called "The Poetic Interpretation of the Twist." 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:27.562 align:middle line:84% And I didn't realize what I was getting into when 00:00:27.562 --> 00:00:28.770 align:middle line:90% I started to write this poem. 00:00:28.770 --> 00:00:32.330 align:middle line:84% Because after I wrote it, I thought was very clever, 00:00:32.330 --> 00:00:34.560 align:middle line:84% you know, to talk about the twist. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.070 align:middle line:84% And I went to a community college to do a reading. 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:39.792 align:middle line:84% And I was about to launch into it. 00:00:39.792 --> 00:00:40.500 align:middle line:90% I gave the read-- 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:41.070 align:middle line:90% gave the title. 00:00:41.070 --> 00:00:42.487 align:middle line:84% And I was about to launch into it. 00:00:42.487 --> 00:00:45.090 align:middle line:84% And Hart Nelson, the person who invited me up there, 00:00:45.090 --> 00:00:46.470 align:middle line:90% stopped me. 00:00:46.470 --> 00:00:49.150 align:middle line:90% And he said, you can't do that. 00:00:49.150 --> 00:00:52.307 align:middle line:84% You have to explain to them what the twist was. 00:00:52.307 --> 00:00:54.390 align:middle line:84% They don't know what you're talking about you have 00:00:54.390 --> 00:00:55.800 align:middle line:90% to explain what the twist was. 00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:59.850 align:middle line:84% And it was like I had just crossed some line. 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:02.803 align:middle line:84% I just realized I had crossed some line. 00:01:02.803 --> 00:01:05.220 align:middle line:84% You know, how you find out you're old is not you feel old. 00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:06.690 align:middle line:84% Someone tells you that you're old. 00:01:06.690 --> 00:01:09.300 align:middle line:90% And that was basically it. 00:01:09.300 --> 00:01:11.040 align:middle line:90% And I had crossed some line. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:12.630 align:middle line:90% And so I had to stop then. 00:01:12.630 --> 00:01:15.300 align:middle line:84% And there's also one thing also in the poem 00:01:15.300 --> 00:01:18.720 align:middle line:84% that I want to talk about, which is the fact 00:01:18.720 --> 00:01:20.460 align:middle line:84% that I didn't know before I started 00:01:20.460 --> 00:01:27.600 align:middle line:84% writing the poem that the twist is culturally 00:01:27.600 --> 00:01:31.350 align:middle line:84% given as the dance that separated couples on the dance 00:01:31.350 --> 00:01:34.068 align:middle line:84% floor-- is blamed as the dance step that separated couples 00:01:34.068 --> 00:01:34.860 align:middle line:90% on the dance floor. 00:01:34.860 --> 00:01:36.660 align:middle line:84% Up after that point, there was ballroom dancing, 00:01:36.660 --> 00:01:37.530 align:middle line:90% couples were dancing. 00:01:37.530 --> 00:01:39.030 align:middle line:84% And then when the twist came, people 00:01:39.030 --> 00:01:42.270 align:middle line:84% started dancing in their own space. 00:01:42.270 --> 00:01:46.980 align:middle line:84% And that is blamed right on the twist in dance history. 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:52.480 align:middle line:84% So "The Poetic Interpretation of the Twist." 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:55.000 align:middle line:84% "I know what you're expecting to hear. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.190 align:middle line:84% You think to yourself, here's a guy 00:01:57.190 --> 00:01:59.950 align:middle line:84% who must understand what the twist was all about. 00:01:59.950 --> 00:02:02.110 align:middle line:84% Look at the knuckles of his hands. 00:02:02.110 --> 00:02:04.690 align:middle line:84% Look at his plain blue shirt hanging out 00:02:04.690 --> 00:02:06.340 align:middle line:90% the back of his trousers. 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:09.280 align:middle line:84% The twist must have been the equivalent of the high sign 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:11.440 align:middle line:90% in a secret cult. I know. 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:12.190 align:middle line:90% I know. 00:02:12.190 --> 00:02:12.730 align:middle line:90% I know. 00:02:12.730 --> 00:02:16.720 align:middle line:84% But listen, I'm still confused by the miniskirt, as well as 00:02:16.720 --> 00:02:19.720 align:middle line:84% the deep meaning of vinyl and everything. 00:02:19.720 --> 00:02:22.240 align:middle line:84% The twist was just a children's game to us. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:24.820 align:middle line:84% I know you expect there ought to be more to this. 00:02:24.820 --> 00:02:28.090 align:middle line:84% The reason the whole world decided to uncouple. 00:02:28.090 --> 00:02:30.220 align:middle line:90% But why should I lie to you? 00:02:30.220 --> 00:02:31.540 align:middle line:90% Let me pull up a chair. 00:02:31.540 --> 00:02:34.270 align:middle line:84% And in as few words as possible, recreate 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:37.990 align:middle line:84% my sister who is renowned for running like a giraffe. 00:02:37.990 --> 00:02:41.410 align:middle line:84% Let me recreate my neighborhood, a dead end street 00:02:41.410 --> 00:02:43.480 align:middle line:90% next to the railroad tracks. 00:02:43.480 --> 00:02:46.690 align:middle line:84% Let me recreate my father who would escape 00:02:46.690 --> 00:02:49.210 align:middle line:84% the house by bicycle and do all the grocery 00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:51.190 align:middle line:90% shopping by himself. 00:02:51.190 --> 00:02:54.940 align:middle line:84% Let's not forget the pool hall and the barbershop each 00:02:54.940 --> 00:02:57.490 align:middle line:84% with their strange flavors of men. 00:02:57.490 --> 00:03:01.030 align:middle line:84% And while we're on the subject, I must not slight the ragweed, 00:03:01.030 --> 00:03:03.250 align:middle line:90% the true rose of the street. 00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:06.970 align:middle line:84% All this will still not give you the twist. 00:03:06.970 --> 00:03:09.040 align:middle line:84% Forgive me for running on like this. 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:11.320 align:middle line:84% Your question has set an expectation 00:03:11.320 --> 00:03:13.450 align:middle line:90% that is impossible to meet. 00:03:13.450 --> 00:03:15.670 align:middle line:84% The question is put on my shoulders, 00:03:15.670 --> 00:03:20.020 align:middle line:84% a troublesome responsibility because the twist is gone. 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:22.330 align:middle line:84% It is the foundation of a bridge that has 00:03:22.330 --> 00:03:24.640 align:middle line:90% made way for a housing project. 00:03:24.640 --> 00:03:28.870 align:middle line:84% And I am sorry to admit that you have come to the wrong person. 00:03:28.870 --> 00:03:32.620 align:middle line:84% I recall the twist the way we recall meeting a distant aunt 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:36.160 align:middle line:84% as a baby or the afternoon spent in homeroom 00:03:36.160 --> 00:03:38.450 align:middle line:90% waiting for the last bell. 00:03:38.450 --> 00:03:40.030 align:middle line:90% My head hurts. 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:42.010 align:middle line:90% I'm tired of remembering. 00:03:42.010 --> 00:03:44.050 align:middle line:84% Perhaps you can refresh my memory 00:03:44.050 --> 00:03:46.960 align:middle line:84% and tell me how they got on this topic. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:51.040 align:middle line:84% As a favor to me, let's not talk anymore about old dances. 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:54.160 align:middle line:84% I have an entire world on the tip of my tongue." 00:03:54.160 --> 00:03:57.346 align:middle line:90% 00:03:57.346 --> 00:04:02.020 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:04:02.020 --> 00:04:02.520 align:middle line:90% Thanks. 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:03.030 align:middle line:90% I thank you. 00:04:03.030 --> 00:04:05.430 align:middle line:90% My neighborhood thanks you. 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:06.152 align:middle line:90%