WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.320 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:02.444 align:middle line:90%
And some new ones.

00:00:02.444 --> 00:00:05.200 align:middle line:90%


00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.990 align:middle line:90%
This is called the Old Crone.

00:00:06.990 --> 00:00:10.140 align:middle line:90%


00:00:10.140 --> 00:00:16.770 align:middle line:84%
Black bandana hides the hair,
long I'm sure, and gray.

00:00:16.770 --> 00:00:18.720 align:middle line:90%
She's slightly bent.

00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:24.120 align:middle line:84%
Tongue sharper than her
eyes, and they miss nothing.

00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:29.220 align:middle line:84%
A scold, who mutters
her days away inside me.

00:00:29.220 --> 00:00:33.330 align:middle line:84%
Asks why I don't
bake fresh bread.

00:00:33.330 --> 00:00:37.620 align:middle line:84%
Bury egg shells and
orange rind for compost.

00:00:37.620 --> 00:00:42.360 align:middle line:84%
Stir great pots of soup
seasoned with tender herbs

00:00:42.360 --> 00:00:44.040 align:middle line:90%
from my garden.

00:00:44.040 --> 00:00:47.610 align:middle line:84%
Wash windows until
they disappear.

00:00:47.610 --> 00:00:51.840 align:middle line:84%
Tend the children's coughs
with cups of hot Yerba Buena

00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:53.040 align:middle line:90%
at night.

00:00:53.040 --> 00:00:58.410 align:middle line:84%
Lock all doors and windows
like a great black hen,

00:00:58.410 --> 00:01:02.640 align:middle line:90%
fluff my layers and doze inside.

00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.580 align:middle line:90%
Inside.

00:01:05.580 --> 00:01:08.310 align:middle line:90%
Once her voice was loud.

00:01:08.310 --> 00:01:10.800 align:middle line:84%
Away and alone, away
and alone, she'd

00:01:10.800 --> 00:01:15.030 align:middle line:84%
mutter as I boarded
plane after plane.

00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:19.200 align:middle line:84%
Rocked on foreign
subways by myself.

00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:23.250 align:middle line:84%
Unwanted, unwanted, she
chanted, the first time

00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:26.910 align:middle line:90%
I said table for one.

00:01:26.910 --> 00:01:33.210 align:middle line:84%
Words bitter as a spoiled
olive splitting in my mouth.

00:01:33.210 --> 00:01:35.550 align:middle line:90%
Oh, she was stubborn.

00:01:35.550 --> 00:01:38.340 align:middle line:90%
Nagged me day and night.

00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:40.650 align:middle line:90%
But she grew weary.

00:01:40.650 --> 00:01:46.470 align:middle line:84%
Began dozing more and more,
which let me study her at rest.

00:01:46.470 --> 00:01:49.890 align:middle line:90%
See how small she was.

00:01:49.890 --> 00:01:52.950 align:middle line:84%
I started lulling her
with stories of birds

00:01:52.950 --> 00:01:56.490 align:middle line:90%
I'd seen in Pakistan and Cuba.

00:01:56.490 --> 00:02:01.440 align:middle line:84%
Started reading her my
poems which on a good day,

00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:03.500 align:middle line:90%
made her smile.

00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:04.000 align:middle line:90%