WEBVTT

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I pause for a second to say that
I live in Lexington, Kentucky,

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and it's the thoroughbred
capital of the world.

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And there is a program there,
the Blackburn Correctional

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Facility, which unites
retired horses from the track

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with incarcerated men,
and they get to work one

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on one with these horses.

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And I've been going
to visit, and it's

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been a remarkable experience.

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And this poem came out
of this particular visit.

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"At Blackburn Thoroughbred
Retirement Farm", one--

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he's got a chance
to work with horses,

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a whole life in
Kentucky, and the truth

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is he's scared of the
enormous animals--

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all muscle, hoof, and
something secretive.

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He picks one named Victor,
because it means winner.

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The horse has been in trouble.

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The man has been in trouble.

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His raw fingers rub the
scarred skin of the horse.

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At first, he bristles.

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Both of them bristle
at the touch.

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To be touched, to
do the touching--

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everything soft is too much.

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Two-- he hates most
the idea of saving.

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No animal is going to save him.

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No man is going
to save an animal.

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He leans on the fence and
rubs at Victor's thick neck.

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What he feels isn't affection.

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It's something more uncluttered.

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Victor doesn't
like being touched,

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but he doesn't dislike it.

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He just is.

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He just waits.

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It's the honesty.

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That's it.

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The horse knows he is
separate, and does not

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try to not be separate.

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Victor does not seem
to care about the man,

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and that indifference
is the purest thing

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the man has ever known.