WEBVTT

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Uh, I think I did read one
or two of this set of poems

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called "Portrait of the 60s".

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That's what I call it now.

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You know, when I was
here before, I thought

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I would try reading this
whole group of five poems,

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which I very rarely do.

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I wanted to get a sense of
how they fitted together

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all at once.

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It's-- these poems deal
with five people who--

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whom-- I knew or knew about
back in that turbulent era.

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And I'll have something more
to say about each of them

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as I come to them.

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The first-- maybe
I should just say,

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the first's called
"Portrait with Short Hair".

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And the setting is, let's
say, Berkeley, California.

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And the character being
portrayed is a young woman.

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The days, the days.

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And the scissors you cut
your hair with, oh how dull.

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Time to change the needle.

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Put on another record, no,
something Baroque and think

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of the good times.

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Think of lakes and rivers.

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It's hot.

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Let in some air.

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Let the smell of leftovers be
one with the perfume of cooling

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asphalt leaves.

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And the nights are wonderful.

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You alone, alone with the slums,
the flower pots, the stars.

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Think of the sea.

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Unzip, just as though someone
were around to be made love to.

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Or any way to pose for
the mysteries of sex.

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Someday, you'll wake up, back
on that Christmas morning

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in Mexico, still a virgin.