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I met here at the
Poetry Center today

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with Janice Dewey's class.

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And they had read my first
book, Weighing Light,

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and they asked me to read
a few poems from that,

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which I'm happy to do.

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The first one is called "And
Day Brought Back My Night."

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The title, as some of you may
gather, was stolen from Milton.

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He has a wonderful sonnet.

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My favorite poem
by Milton probably

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has a sonnet about
his late wife.

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And the last line of which,
it's a dream about her,

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and during the dream he
believes that she's still alive.

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In the last line, he wakes
up, and she flees from him

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and day brings back his night.

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And day brought that my night.

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It was so simple.

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You came back to
me, and I was happy.

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Nothing seemed to
matter but that.

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That you had gone away from me
and lived for days with him,

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it didn't matter.

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That I had been left to care
for our old dog and house

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alone couldn't
have mattered less.

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On all this, you and I
and our happy dog agreed.

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We slept.

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The world was worryless.

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I woke in the morning,
brimming with old joys

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until the fact checker showed
up late for work and started in.

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Item, it's years, not days.

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Item, you had no dog.

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Item, she isn't back.

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In fact, she just remarried.

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And oh yes, item, you left her.

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Remember?

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I did.

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I did.

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I do.

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