WEBVTT

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I'm going to break into
the subject of poetry

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for a brief instant.

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And read you the poem that
strikes my fancy at the moment.

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I really didn't promise myself
to be consistent on the theme.

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So I'm taking the liberty
of changing the subject.

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It's called "First Coffin Poem."

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In some ways connected
with the subject of poetry.

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I love you my plain pine
box because you also

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are a bench with the lid down.

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Can you see my friends in a row
seated at ease with themselves?

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I am in a coffin and it has
been stand against the wall

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of a living room.

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It is just before dinner
and several friends

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are standing about with
glasses in their hands,

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drinking to the possibilities
that life offers.

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The coffin also could be
placed as a table in front

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of a grand piano, with
food and drinks served

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on it and an ashtray.

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It would be so much
simpler, less gruesome

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to use an actual coffee table
you say, or a real bench.

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But that would prove how rigid
we must be about ourselves

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and cause us to languish
caught in a limitation.

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We must make one
thing do for another.

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I am hope in urging
you to use my pine box.

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Take me to your home
when I die imperceptibly.

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Without fuss, place me
against the wall in my coffin.

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A conversation piece, an
affirmation of change,

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I am sincerely yours.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Life goes on, ey.

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