WEBVTT

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[APPLAUSE]

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"Saguaro," a two-part poem.

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WHAT THE DESERT IS THINKING

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We know the desert
has consciousness

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because the saguaros
stand up and speak

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as one about the heat.

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[LAUGHS]

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They tell the Gila woodpeckers
to come in out of the sun.

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They tell a man or a
woman, lost, without water,

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to lie in the column of shade
they make out of kindness.

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They all hum together like
Tibetan or Gregorian monks, one

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green chord that
people hear when

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they drive through Gates
Pass and come to the place

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where they make a small gasp.

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Beauty does that.

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Though the nihilist will make a
joke about the note of surprise

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that has escaped from
his or her loneliness.

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The smile from the joke
will cover for the smile,

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for the joy.

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That's okay.

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Consciousness is like the
saguaro's primordial cells

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that take a century to
come up with the thought,

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maybe growing some arms
would be a good idea.

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[LAUGHTER]

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"Questions for a Saguaro."

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If it takes you a hundred
years to grow your first arm,

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for how long do you feel the
sensation of craving something

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new?

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Did you ever feel impatient
when someone put a shirt

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over your head, and
it took fifty years

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to grow your way out of it?

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[LAUGHTER]

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Does it feel like greed
or self-actualization

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when rain comes and you suck up
every drop as fast as you can,

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even if you starve
the palo verde that

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has sheltered you as you grew?

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Do you ever say to yourself
mindlessly, wordlessly, god,

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it's too f___in' hot!

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Or after the monsoon,
I feel so bloated!

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Or before, I'm so parched.

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[LAUGHTER]

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Sometimes people are
thrilled to see you lined up

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in disarray like
soldiers off-duty forever

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in the quiet desert.

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Does anything thrill you?

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A mountain lion scratching
its backside on your spines?

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[LAUGHTER]

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Flowers erupting from your head?

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Fruits packing
seeds that will move

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all you've learned from your
one rooted spot into new places

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called the future--

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does that mean for you joy
when the sweet packages fall

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to expectant ground?

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[APPLAUSE]

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