And it's my pleasure to introduce
someone who's probably very well known to you--
cartoonist, a political satirist, a humorist, and you
see him in the Arizona Daily Star on a regular basis.
He's one of those people who--
we don't know if the pen is able to defeat
the sword on all occasions, but David Fitzsimmons
is someone who gave us the pen a fighting chance to do that.
So please welcome him.
[APPLAUSE]
Billy Collins said my name.
It is impressive to contemplate the Poetry
Center came to be 50 years ago.
I was four years old.
50 years ago-- this will give you perspective.
50 years ago, the road construction
on Ina and La Cañada began.
So glad to see so many of you here in support of the Poetry
Center in these times when there's
so much suffering due to cuts.
And you may have noticed this morning,
Sentinel Peak now has a lowercase A.
A good poem, by my standards, burrows
into a moment or an idea.
It stirs the cranial soil and lodges
in the heart like an unforgettable symphony
or a striking painting or a cartoon.
Poetry, for me personally, is transporting.
It's a form of escape.
It has enabled me to escape and oncologists waiting room.
It is true.
It has enabled me to escape mourning the loss
of a romance or, even more tragic, an election outcome.
I want to read a poem.