WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.720 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:02.568 align:middle line:84% Did I really say that rabbit thing? 00:00:02.568 --> 00:00:03.444 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:03.444 --> 00:00:05.640 align:middle line:90% 00:00:05.640 --> 00:00:08.440 align:middle line:90% Thank you for that introduction. 00:00:08.440 --> 00:00:10.410 align:middle line:84% And I should mention that Aurelie has just 00:00:10.410 --> 00:00:13.550 align:middle line:84% completed a delicious novel based on a Greek myth, 00:00:13.550 --> 00:00:17.640 align:middle line:84% so she is a fairy taler and a warrior, too. 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:22.410 align:middle line:84% And thank you to the Poetry Center for hosting this event, 00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:28.320 align:middle line:84% and to everyone for coming out on this late summer evening. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:29.882 align:middle line:84% And so nice to meet you, Cynthia. 00:00:29.882 --> 00:00:32.340 align:middle line:84% And I can't wait to hear your poetry, and your translations 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:34.140 align:middle line:90% of poetry. 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:38.460 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read tonight from "A Work in Progress." 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:40.410 align:middle line:84% I'll tell you just a tiny bit about it. 00:00:40.410 --> 00:00:42.870 align:middle line:90% It's about a girl named Mike. 00:00:42.870 --> 00:00:47.430 align:middle line:84% Some years ago, before this project 00:00:47.430 --> 00:00:49.290 align:middle line:84% begins, before the writing begins, 00:00:49.290 --> 00:00:52.980 align:middle line:84% she died in a double suicide with her mother. 00:00:52.980 --> 00:00:57.810 align:middle line:84% She works for a company called Central as a night floater. 00:00:57.810 --> 00:01:01.770 align:middle line:84% And her position is to keep suicides company 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:03.570 align:middle line:90% in their last moments. 00:01:03.570 --> 00:01:09.540 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read the opening pages from this long narrative. 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:12.900 align:middle line:84% These pages are forthcoming in a journal called Unstuck, 00:01:12.900 --> 00:01:14.280 align:middle line:90% that's out of Austin, Texas. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:15.300 align:middle line:90% I think highly of it. 00:01:15.300 --> 00:01:18.220 align:middle line:84% And then I'm going to read some later pages, 00:01:18.220 --> 00:01:20.075 align:middle line:84% so just imagine a lot of time passing. 00:01:20.075 --> 00:01:22.200 align:middle line:84% And those of you who know my work will know they'll 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.050 align:middle line:90% be action-packed pages too. 00:01:25.050 --> 00:01:28.410 align:middle line:84% These later pages were published in a journal last year 00:01:28.410 --> 00:01:30.310 align:middle line:90% called Little Star. 00:01:30.310 --> 00:01:33.250 align:middle line:84% And I'm going to pause in between the two sections. 00:01:33.250 --> 00:01:36.790 align:middle line:84% I should mention my gratitude to the writers, Margaret Wise 00:01:36.790 --> 00:01:41.320 align:middle line:84% Brown, Amy Lowell, and Emily Dickinson, whose work you 00:01:41.320 --> 00:01:45.310 align:middle line:84% may recognize in little fragments in this, 00:01:45.310 --> 00:01:48.430 align:middle line:84% or bigger fragments, drastically changed. 00:01:48.430 --> 00:01:52.140 align:middle line:90% 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.485 align:middle line:84% And this is currently called "Happy Hour." 00:01:55.485 --> 00:01:58.020 align:middle line:90% 00:01:58.020 --> 00:02:01.230 align:middle line:84% "She felt nothing at all in her hands, except air. 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:04.590 align:middle line:84% And everything darkened and brightened from there. 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:06.630 align:middle line:84% Outside the triplex, the three of them 00:02:06.630 --> 00:02:11.070 align:middle line:84% stood, with a few soaking wet curtains around them. 00:02:11.070 --> 00:02:13.710 align:middle line:84% Her father was wearing an old cowboy hat. 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:15.570 align:middle line:84% Her mother carried a guitar case, 00:02:15.570 --> 00:02:18.090 align:middle line:90% and drank from a bottle of wine. 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:21.750 align:middle line:84% They trudged up the walkway in their drenched clothes. 00:02:21.750 --> 00:02:25.170 align:middle line:84% The walkway was covered in needles. 00:02:25.170 --> 00:02:29.730 align:middle line:84% Solemnly, three in a row, mother, daughter, and father, 00:02:29.730 --> 00:02:31.763 align:middle line:90% they toured the apartments. 00:02:31.763 --> 00:02:33.180 align:middle line:84% For the daughter, the middle floor 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:37.560 align:middle line:84% was just right, not too low, and not too high off the ground. 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:39.570 align:middle line:84% The father had just opened a bar. 00:02:39.570 --> 00:02:43.560 align:middle line:84% The bottom floor was good for those late hours. 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:45.340 align:middle line:84% That left the top for the mother. 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:46.680 align:middle line:90% But that was OK. 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:48.450 align:middle line:90% She would not jump again. 00:02:48.450 --> 00:02:51.360 align:middle line:84% And besides, you needed eight stories. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:53.760 align:middle line:84% They stood at their doors for a moment. 00:02:53.760 --> 00:02:57.570 align:middle line:84% Quietly, then, they went inside their new homes, 00:02:57.570 --> 00:03:00.980 align:middle line:90% shut the doors to the rooms. 00:03:00.980 --> 00:03:04.280 align:middle line:84% Soon, Mike got her first assignment from Fontaine, 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:06.380 align:middle line:90% at the Division Street Diner. 00:03:06.380 --> 00:03:09.680 align:middle line:84% 'You're a nice kid,' he said, sipping his coffee. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:11.210 align:middle line:90% 'A little too nice. 00:03:11.210 --> 00:03:14.420 align:middle line:84% That's a concern, but we think you can do this. 00:03:14.420 --> 00:03:15.890 align:middle line:90% Not many can.' 00:03:15.890 --> 00:03:20.000 align:middle line:84% 'Do what?' 'I'm sorry about you and your mom,' Fontaine said, 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.880 align:middle line:84% looking off, his eyes getting darker. 00:03:22.880 --> 00:03:26.150 align:middle line:84% 'We did our best to get someone else there,' he said. 00:03:26.150 --> 00:03:28.880 align:middle line:90% Then he explains the position. 00:03:28.880 --> 00:03:31.070 align:middle line:90% 'So I try to stop them?' 00:03:31.070 --> 00:03:34.610 align:middle line:90% 'No, but you will be there.' 00:03:34.610 --> 00:03:36.590 align:middle line:90% Her stop approached. 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:38.900 align:middle line:84% Mike could see the dim neon sign of the bar 00:03:38.900 --> 00:03:40.310 align:middle line:90% through the bus window. 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:43.430 align:middle line:84% The window was wet with rain and blurred of grime. 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:47.360 align:middle line:84% The bar's name also was blurred, and blinked in the rain. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:49.520 align:middle line:84% Mike had just gotten off work as a night floater 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.230 align:middle line:90% in an office downtown. 00:03:51.230 --> 00:03:54.290 align:middle line:84% She gathered her umbrella, a crumpled paper bag, 00:03:54.290 --> 00:03:55.760 align:middle line:90% and her lunch sack. 00:03:55.760 --> 00:03:58.580 align:middle line:84% Night floaters called the evening meal 'lunch,' even when 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:02.160 align:middle line:84% taken so late in a day's normal duration. 00:04:02.160 --> 00:04:05.360 align:middle line:84% She yanked the wire with a small and confident hand. 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:08.420 align:middle line:84% The bus slowed to a stop in a large puddle that 00:04:08.420 --> 00:04:10.310 align:middle line:90% glowed from the headlights. 00:04:10.310 --> 00:04:13.490 align:middle line:84% As the engine idled, the glow quivered a bit. 00:04:13.490 --> 00:04:15.890 align:middle line:90% The water seemed to hold life. 00:04:15.890 --> 00:04:18.860 align:middle line:84% At the door, Mike grabbed the trench coat more tightly, 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:20.510 align:middle line:90% and flew over the puddle. 00:04:20.510 --> 00:04:24.350 align:middle line:84% She tucked herself quietly into the bar. 00:04:24.350 --> 00:04:26.750 align:middle line:84% The city had a light ordinance for the interiors 00:04:26.750 --> 00:04:28.550 align:middle line:90% of drinking establishments. 00:04:28.550 --> 00:04:30.890 align:middle line:90% The city bars always were dark. 00:04:30.890 --> 00:04:33.750 align:middle line:90% A brightly lit bar was a crime. 00:04:33.750 --> 00:04:36.290 align:middle line:90% Bog was darker than most. 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:38.360 align:middle line:84% Mike chose a stool at the end of the bar, 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:40.490 align:middle line:90% near the jukebox, and door. 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:43.370 align:middle line:84% 'What's up, Mike?' the bartender said. 00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:45.260 align:middle line:90% 'What's up with you?' 00:04:45.260 --> 00:04:47.330 align:middle line:84% The bartender had a handlebar mustache, 00:04:47.330 --> 00:04:50.660 align:middle line:84% and wore a Western shirt with metal snaps, and knot buttons. 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:54.500 align:middle line:84% He was too old to be a hipster, but he was not so old. 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:57.860 align:middle line:84% The city was in the West, but not in the desert or plains. 00:04:57.860 --> 00:05:01.520 align:middle line:84% It was in the thickly forested part, a rainy and remote corner 00:05:01.520 --> 00:05:03.500 align:middle line:84% of the Western part of the country. 00:05:03.500 --> 00:05:07.610 align:middle line:84% People dressed like that here, people at Bog, at least. 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:09.440 align:middle line:84% Mike wore the uniform of a floater-- 00:05:09.440 --> 00:05:14.400 align:middle line:84% trench coat, dungarees, red low top sneakers. 00:05:14.400 --> 00:05:16.740 align:middle line:84% The bartender put a can of beer and a glass 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.873 align:middle line:84% down on the counter, and opened the tab of the beer. 00:05:19.873 --> 00:05:22.290 align:middle line:84% He poured a small pitcher full of tomato juice, setting it 00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:25.800 align:middle line:84% beside the beer can with a cardboard shaker of salt. Mike 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:28.320 align:middle line:84% gratefully nodded, and pulled a thick book out 00:05:28.320 --> 00:05:30.060 align:middle line:90% of her paper bag. 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:32.430 align:middle line:84% Opening it to a page marked with a feather, 00:05:32.430 --> 00:05:35.340 align:middle line:90% she began peacefully reading. 00:05:35.340 --> 00:05:39.240 align:middle line:84% Light handwriting appeared in the margins of the huge volume. 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:42.060 align:middle line:84% Occasionally, Mike tapped a pencil on the wooden bar 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:43.890 align:middle line:90% counter as she read. 00:05:43.890 --> 00:05:47.880 align:middle line:84% Once in a rare while, she made a new note with a light hand. 00:05:47.880 --> 00:05:49.590 align:middle line:84% Without lifting her eyes from the page, 00:05:49.590 --> 00:05:51.960 align:middle line:84% Mike filled the glass 2/3 full with beer, 00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:53.640 align:middle line:84% and then tilting the tiny pitcher, 00:05:53.640 --> 00:05:56.160 align:middle line:84% slowly above the glass, again without lifting 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:59.310 align:middle line:84% her eyes from the page, to the rim with tomato juice. 00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:01.710 align:middle line:84% She shook on some salt. She picked up 00:06:01.710 --> 00:06:05.670 align:middle line:84% the glass of bloody beer, and took a small sip as she read. 00:06:05.670 --> 00:06:09.030 align:middle line:84% The bartender, whose name also was Mike, but whom everyone 00:06:09.030 --> 00:06:11.310 align:middle line:84% called Pete, walked around the bar, 00:06:11.310 --> 00:06:13.620 align:middle line:84% and put quarters into the jukebox. 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:15.450 align:middle line:84% He stood with his back to Mike a long time, 00:06:15.450 --> 00:06:17.820 align:middle line:84% and then returned to his station. 00:06:17.820 --> 00:06:20.640 align:middle line:84% A smooth voice backed by slow drums 00:06:20.640 --> 00:06:24.090 align:middle line:84% sang about rain on a particular day of the week. 00:06:24.090 --> 00:06:27.270 align:middle line:84% It rained a lot in the city, almost all the time. 00:06:27.270 --> 00:06:30.060 align:middle line:84% The jukebox only played songs about rain. 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:32.790 align:middle line:84% But Pete added a song by a local musician. 00:06:32.790 --> 00:06:36.000 align:middle line:84% There's only strange and grim celebration. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.230 align:middle line:84% Everyone was dying to get on the playlist at Bog. 00:06:40.230 --> 00:06:42.420 align:middle line:84% Recently, Pete had added a new song 00:06:42.420 --> 00:06:44.430 align:middle line:84% by the house band, which was fronted 00:06:44.430 --> 00:06:48.090 align:middle line:84% by a small and beautiful woman who played a child's guitar. 00:06:48.090 --> 00:06:50.100 align:middle line:84% No one else ever performed in the bar. 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:52.830 align:middle line:84% Her songs featured pine trees and rain, 00:06:52.830 --> 00:06:54.780 align:middle line:84% and all the songs were lullabies. 00:06:54.780 --> 00:06:57.810 align:middle line:84% But the songs were not intended for children. 00:06:57.810 --> 00:07:00.450 align:middle line:84% The house singer could've been 20 or 50, and not only 00:07:00.450 --> 00:07:02.520 align:middle line:84% because Bog had very poor lighting. 00:07:02.520 --> 00:07:03.990 align:middle line:90% It's just how she looked. 00:07:03.990 --> 00:07:07.650 align:middle line:84% She was more illustrated than live-action human. 00:07:07.650 --> 00:07:09.420 align:middle line:84% She wore black boots whose soles were 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:11.670 align:middle line:90% secured with silver duct tape. 00:07:11.670 --> 00:07:13.890 align:middle line:90% Her look was not warm. 00:07:13.890 --> 00:07:15.780 align:middle line:84% She performed with a languorous drummer, 00:07:15.780 --> 00:07:19.350 align:middle line:84% and a loose-limbed bass player, both tall and thin as wisps. 00:07:19.350 --> 00:07:22.470 align:middle line:84% If they turned sideways, you might not even see them. 00:07:22.470 --> 00:07:24.930 align:middle line:84% They wore black pinstripe suits with narrow pant legs 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:26.520 align:middle line:90% and white undershirts. 00:07:26.520 --> 00:07:28.830 align:middle line:90% The trio performed every night. 00:07:28.830 --> 00:07:31.740 align:middle line:84% In between sets, they lounged on a black velvet couch 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.830 align:middle line:84% at the back of the bar, nursing their drinks. 00:07:34.830 --> 00:07:39.000 align:middle line:84% The new song on the jukebox was called simply "Children." 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.780 align:middle line:84% In this song, children were led through the rain, Pied Piper 00:07:42.780 --> 00:07:45.870 align:middle line:84% style, into a river, and drowned. 00:07:45.870 --> 00:07:48.150 align:middle line:84% Throughout most of the song, one of the children 00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:51.030 align:middle line:84% was depicted standing by the edge of the river and crying. 00:07:51.030 --> 00:07:53.730 align:middle line:84% At the end of the song, he also jumped in. 00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:57.060 align:middle line:84% And though he probably died, the song never said. 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:59.040 align:middle line:84% It ended with an image of the sun, 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:03.240 align:middle line:84% pink like icing, disappearing into the horizon. 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.490 align:middle line:84% The house singer had a few thousand songs on the jukebox. 00:08:07.490 --> 00:08:09.590 align:middle line:84% Every night after work, Mike arrived at Bog 00:08:09.590 --> 00:08:11.893 align:middle line:84% on the last Mount Fair bus of the night, 00:08:11.893 --> 00:08:13.310 align:middle line:84% and made a small pitcher of tomato 00:08:13.310 --> 00:08:15.800 align:middle line:84% juice come out just right, with two cans of beer, 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:18.440 align:middle line:84% while she sat at the bar counter, and read from the book 00:08:18.440 --> 00:08:20.930 align:middle line:84% a scrapbook of old children's stories, 00:08:20.930 --> 00:08:24.125 align:middle line:84% looking up from the pages only once in a while. 00:08:24.125 --> 00:08:26.000 align:middle line:84% Every so often, she would lift off her chair, 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.100 align:middle line:84% and go out back to get out of the smoke, 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:30.140 align:middle line:90% and get some fresh air. 00:08:30.140 --> 00:08:32.179 align:middle line:84% Pete allowed Bog's patrons to smoke, 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:34.730 align:middle line:84% though it was against the law in the rest of the city. 00:08:34.730 --> 00:08:38.059 align:middle line:84% 'No harm, no foul,' he said, when new patrons asked if they 00:08:38.059 --> 00:08:39.650 align:middle line:90% could. 00:08:39.650 --> 00:08:41.600 align:middle line:84% Mike lived down the block from the bar, 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:46.040 align:middle line:84% on a dark stretch lit by dim, moon-like yellow globes. 00:08:46.040 --> 00:08:50.660 align:middle line:84% Pine trees, old growth, like in fairy tales, lined the street, 00:08:50.660 --> 00:08:53.420 align:middle line:84% and made a thick canopy over the sidewalks. 00:08:53.420 --> 00:08:56.510 align:middle line:84% Still, the rain came through, often in giant droplets 00:08:56.510 --> 00:09:00.020 align:middle line:84% that could soak a whole head of hair in one splatter. 00:09:00.020 --> 00:09:02.895 align:middle line:84% Sometimes Pete would offer to walk Mike home, asking 00:09:02.895 --> 00:09:05.270 align:middle line:84% one of the regulars who sat at the bar to watch the till, 00:09:05.270 --> 00:09:06.650 align:middle line:90% and serve drinks. 00:09:06.650 --> 00:09:09.740 align:middle line:90% Most often, Heroin Mary. 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:12.080 align:middle line:84% On this, the first night of our story, 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.030 align:middle line:90% a young couple came into Bog. 00:09:14.030 --> 00:09:17.330 align:middle line:84% The girl wore a denim blazer and bell bottoms and sunglasses, 00:09:17.330 --> 00:09:22.160 align:middle line:84% dark lenses, white, huge, the boy, a stylized suit, custom 00:09:22.160 --> 00:09:26.750 align:middle line:84% made, clearly, as if sewn right onto his very body. 00:09:26.750 --> 00:09:29.300 align:middle line:84% He also had sunglasses, aviators. 00:09:29.300 --> 00:09:31.640 align:middle line:84% And these, too, fit him perfectly well. 00:09:31.640 --> 00:09:34.220 align:middle line:84% They ordered double vodka martinis. 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:38.480 align:middle line:84% "Not in tall glasses," the girl said, "not with a long stem." 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:40.790 align:middle line:84% She darted her eyes toward the boyfriend. 00:09:40.790 --> 00:09:43.250 align:middle line:84% In her uncertainty, there was certainty, too, 00:09:43.250 --> 00:09:45.860 align:middle line:84% that her needs would not be fulfilled. 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:47.870 align:middle line:84% Pete stared at the girl for a couple of seconds, 00:09:47.870 --> 00:09:49.880 align:middle line:90% and sort of tilted his chin. 00:09:49.880 --> 00:09:52.250 align:middle line:84% Mike barely lifted her eyes off of her book, 00:09:52.250 --> 00:09:55.280 align:middle line:84% and inspected the girl closely inside the mirror, 00:09:55.280 --> 00:09:59.780 align:middle line:84% with a glance expertly directed so the girl would not notice. 00:09:59.780 --> 00:10:02.060 align:middle line:84% The girl's lipstick was lopsided, 00:10:02.060 --> 00:10:03.680 align:middle line:90% but she was not drunk. 00:10:03.680 --> 00:10:07.190 align:middle line:84% She was tearful, and not balanced upon her feet. 00:10:07.190 --> 00:10:09.980 align:middle line:84% She wore vintage boots with high wooden heels. 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:12.890 align:middle line:84% There was no slurring, and there were no lurches forward. 00:10:12.890 --> 00:10:15.320 align:middle line:84% Still, something wavered as she stood there, 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.770 align:middle line:90% something pungent, and ruined. 00:10:18.770 --> 00:10:20.720 align:middle line:90% Mike focused on her book's page. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:23.270 align:middle line:84% It featured a mid-century drawing. 00:10:23.270 --> 00:10:25.040 align:middle line:90% A child was playing. 00:10:25.040 --> 00:10:28.160 align:middle line:84% She was on all fours, next to a chicken. 00:10:28.160 --> 00:10:30.440 align:middle line:84% The child wore a white frock with white ruffles 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.110 align:middle line:84% that was meant to resemble the white chicken beside her. 00:10:33.110 --> 00:10:36.220 align:middle line:84% 'It's My Way,' read the caption."