WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.730 align:middle line:90%


00:00:04.730 --> 00:00:08.810 align:middle line:84%
And let's see, this one is
called "The Smallest Town

00:00:08.810 --> 00:00:14.740 align:middle line:84%
Alive," and it's kind of
about the moments, which

00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:17.260 align:middle line:90%
was now that moment.

00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:21.220 align:middle line:84%
"The smallest town alive
has one sign, now entering,

00:00:21.220 --> 00:00:22.900 align:middle line:90%
now leaving.

00:00:22.900 --> 00:00:25.570 align:middle line:84%
You've passed through
and won't come back.

00:00:25.570 --> 00:00:30.490 align:middle line:84%
Goodbye, your life was so many
one horse stoplights swaying

00:00:30.490 --> 00:00:33.190 align:middle line:90%
on wires in a high wind.

00:00:33.190 --> 00:00:36.460 align:middle line:84%
A lone dog crossing
the street at an angle.

00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:40.000 align:middle line:84%
A flurry of porches
you won't remember.

00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.740 align:middle line:84%
On this one, I pose barefoot
in a dress on the bottom step,

00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:46.990 align:middle line:90%
an ice chip on my tongue.

00:00:46.990 --> 00:00:49.960 align:middle line:84%
In my pocket, a
glowing coal I am

00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.030 align:middle line:90%
trying to crush into a name."

00:00:52.030 --> 00:00:55.630 align:middle line:90%


00:00:55.630 --> 00:00:59.680 align:middle line:84%
This one is a Dorothy
Parker poem on steroids.

00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:04.110 align:middle line:84%
And the Dorothy Parker
poem goes, "Some men

00:01:04.110 --> 00:01:05.550 align:middle line:90%
break your heart in two.

00:01:05.550 --> 00:01:07.470 align:middle line:90%
Some men fawn and flatter.

00:01:07.470 --> 00:01:12.670 align:middle line:84%
Some men never look at you,
and that cleans up the matter."

00:01:12.670 --> 00:01:13.660 align:middle line:90%
So I took that poem.

00:01:13.660 --> 00:01:16.970 align:middle line:84%
I loved cleans up, you know,
like it's a dirty business.

00:01:16.970 --> 00:01:19.790 align:middle line:84%
And so I took that poem,
and I sort of blew it up.

00:01:19.790 --> 00:01:23.380 align:middle line:84%
And so those Dorothy Parker
lines or versions of them

00:01:23.380 --> 00:01:25.480 align:middle line:90%
blip in to this longer piece.

00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:27.500 align:middle line:90%
"The Matter."

00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:30.950 align:middle line:84%
"Some men carry you to
bed with your boots on.

00:01:30.950 --> 00:01:34.280 align:middle line:84%
Some men say your name
like a verbal tick.

00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.160 align:middle line:84%
Some men slap on an
emotional surcharge

00:01:37.160 --> 00:01:40.310 align:middle line:90%
for every erotic encounter.

00:01:40.310 --> 00:01:42.530 align:middle line:84%
Some men are
slightly mentally ill

00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:45.530 align:middle line:90%
and thinking of joining a gym.

00:01:45.530 --> 00:01:49.430 align:middle line:84%
Some men have moved on and can't
be seduced even in the dream

00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:51.740 align:middle line:90%
bars where you meet them.

00:01:51.740 --> 00:01:56.300 align:middle line:84%
Some men who were younger are
now the age you were then.

00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:58.910 align:middle line:84%
Some men aren't content
with mere breakage,

00:01:58.910 --> 00:02:01.430 align:middle line:84%
they've got to burn
you to the ground.

00:02:01.430 --> 00:02:03.920 align:middle line:84%
Some men you've reduced
to ashes are finally

00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:06.110 align:middle line:90%
dusting themselves off.

00:02:06.110 --> 00:02:08.990 align:middle line:90%
Some men are made of fiberglass.

00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:12.110 align:middle line:84%
Some men have deep holes
drilled in by a war.

00:02:12.110 --> 00:02:13.940 align:middle line:90%
You can't fill them.

00:02:13.940 --> 00:02:16.310 align:middle line:90%
Some men are delicate and torn.

00:02:16.310 --> 00:02:18.050 align:middle line:84%
Some men will
steal your bracelet

00:02:18.050 --> 00:02:19.970 align:middle line:90%
if you let them spend the night.

00:02:19.970 --> 00:02:22.370 align:middle line:84%
Some men will want
to fuck your poems,

00:02:22.370 --> 00:02:25.250 align:middle line:90%
and instead, they will find you.

00:02:25.250 --> 00:02:28.970 align:middle line:84%
Some men will say I'd like to
see how you look when you come

00:02:28.970 --> 00:02:31.520 align:middle line:90%
and then hail a cab.

00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:35.000 align:middle line:84%
Some men are a list of
ingredients with no recipe.

00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:36.950 align:middle line:90%
Some men never see you.

00:02:36.950 --> 00:02:40.040 align:middle line:84%
Some men will blindfold you
during sex then, secretly

00:02:40.040 --> 00:02:42.330 align:middle line:90%
put on high heels.

00:02:42.330 --> 00:02:44.990 align:middle line:84%
Some men will try on your
black fishnet stockings

00:02:44.990 --> 00:02:47.750 align:middle line:84%
in a hotel in Rome,
or Saran wrap you

00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:50.420 align:middle line:90%
to a bedpost in New Orleans.

00:02:50.420 --> 00:02:53.390 align:middle line:84%
Some of these men will
be worth trying to keep.

00:02:53.390 --> 00:02:56.210 align:middle line:84%
Some men will write obtuse,
condescending reviews

00:02:56.210 --> 00:02:59.210 align:middle line:84%
of your work, making you
remember these lines by Frank

00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:03.440 align:middle line:84%
O'Hara, 'I cannot possibly
think of you other than you are

00:03:03.440 --> 00:03:06.080 align:middle line:90%
the assassin of my orchards.'

00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.530 align:middle line:84%
Some men, let's face it,
really are too small.

00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:13.910 align:middle line:84%
Some men are too large, but
it's not usually a deal breaker.

00:03:13.910 --> 00:03:16.100 align:middle line:90%
Some men don't have one at all.

00:03:16.100 --> 00:03:19.040 align:middle line:84%
Some men will slap you
in a way you'll like.

00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:21.680 align:middle line:84%
Some men will want to
crawl inside you to die.

00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.140 align:middle line:84%
Some men never
clean up the matter.

00:03:24.140 --> 00:03:26.900 align:middle line:84%
Some men hand you their
hearts like leaflets.

00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:29.720 align:middle line:84%
And some men's hearts
seem to circle forever.

00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:33.830 align:middle line:84%
You catch sight of them on clear
nights bright, dark, bright

00:03:33.830 --> 00:03:37.130 align:middle line:84%
dots among the stars and
wait for their orbits

00:03:37.130 --> 00:03:40.750 align:middle line:84%
to decay, for them
to fall to Earth."

00:03:40.750 --> 00:03:43.000 align:middle line:90%