This is a short poem called "Penal Code."
"It's laying down the law, my law.
The litterbug will gather litter along 10 miles of country road.
The thief will bear endless gifts.
The man who beats children will teach first aid and the killer
care for the dead.
If you don't understand, I love you,
soaring in the limits of your skin."
Got a couple of strange expressions.
And I read that once to a group of seventh graders
in St. Paul, Minnesota, and there was silence and kind
of weird looks.
And a little boy in the corner raised his hand and he said,
is that something like, so-and-so's idea
of the consciousness being a skin
within which we're imprisoned?
And I tried to hire the lad.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
I had to go to the University of Wisconsin from there,
and I thought it'd be a good trick if he went for me.
If he got off the plane, I wondered if anybody
would called his bluff.
What could they say?
You're smaller than we expected.
But I don't know.
These kids can be dangerous.