WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.290 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:05.340 align:middle line:84%
Well, as you can see, not
only do I like to eat,

00:00:05.340 --> 00:00:07.245 align:middle line:84%
but I like thinking
about eating, too.

00:00:07.245 --> 00:00:14.440 align:middle line:90%


00:00:14.440 --> 00:00:16.825 align:middle line:84%
So, I'm going to read
you another food poem.

00:00:16.825 --> 00:00:19.240 align:middle line:84%
It's a little bit
different in tone, though.

00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:22.920 align:middle line:90%


00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.880 align:middle line:84%
I guess poets like to declare
what their turf is, "Yeah, this

00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:28.650 align:middle line:90%
belongs to me."

00:00:28.650 --> 00:00:31.710 align:middle line:84%
You say to the other poets,
"Keep away from food images,

00:00:31.710 --> 00:00:32.910 align:middle line:90%
they belong to me."

00:00:32.910 --> 00:00:36.690 align:middle line:90%


00:00:36.690 --> 00:00:40.630 align:middle line:84%
This poem is called
"Breakfast Cherries."

00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:43.060 align:middle line:90%
I am the breakfast poet.

00:00:43.060 --> 00:00:45.430 align:middle line:90%
I eat everything.

00:00:45.430 --> 00:00:52.090 align:middle line:84%
I have chosen again to will to
hold on, composing my voice.

00:00:52.090 --> 00:00:57.220 align:middle line:84%
This is my last meal, my
children's random quarreling,

00:00:57.220 --> 00:01:01.240 align:middle line:84%
the same last meal
that I ate yesterday.

00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:02.500 align:middle line:90%
Join me.

00:01:02.500 --> 00:01:04.180 align:middle line:90%
Be with me.

00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:07.300 align:middle line:84%
Gladden your tongue
with ripe words,

00:01:07.300 --> 00:01:11.020 align:middle line:84%
though only the sun,
the whitening sun,

00:01:11.020 --> 00:01:15.130 align:middle line:84%
shimmers the cherries all at
once in their yellow porcelain

00:01:15.130 --> 00:01:16.270 align:middle line:90%
bowl.

00:01:16.270 --> 00:01:22.330 align:middle line:84%
They shimmer darkly and do not
go out as my children's voices,

00:01:22.330 --> 00:01:27.340 align:middle line:84%
now blue incense, taking
and exchanging shapes,

00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:32.290 align:middle line:84%
mingle above the cherries,
pushing, complaining

00:01:32.290 --> 00:01:34.750 align:middle line:90%
to commence the day.

00:01:34.750 --> 00:01:37.090 align:middle line:84%
They are happy,
though it is only

00:01:37.090 --> 00:01:42.460 align:middle line:84%
another morning that begins,
another last day, and again,

00:01:42.460 --> 00:01:46.930 align:middle line:84%
a final meal to share,
as cherry pits harmonize,

00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:50.200 align:middle line:84%
whitening songs
in the white sun,

00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:56.230 align:middle line:84%
and the porcelain bowl, my
poem, singing what I, what we

00:01:56.230 --> 00:02:00.880 align:middle line:84%
will them to sing, with
their children's skulls.

00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:05.050 align:middle line:84%
Paradise in its day
sounded like this.

00:02:05.050 --> 00:02:08.020 align:middle line:84%
Darkening cherries
were eaten there,

00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:12.400 align:middle line:84%
and the pits were thrown
away with their songs.

00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:16.990 align:middle line:84%
Nothing was designed to
last, not even the sun.

00:02:16.990 --> 00:02:20.470 align:middle line:90%
Why should I quarrel with that?

00:02:20.470 --> 00:02:27.520 align:middle line:84%
Now, orioles flute in the
outside spaces, unseen, so near

00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:29.650 align:middle line:90%
and falling away.

00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:31.600 align:middle line:90%
The children listen.

00:02:31.600 --> 00:02:36.970 align:middle line:84%
I listen to their listening
as you approach again, only

00:02:36.970 --> 00:02:40.820 align:middle line:84%
to complain that I have
wandered off bearing your gifts,

00:02:40.820 --> 00:02:43.840 align:middle line:90%
your cherries.

00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.040 align:middle line:84%
So, I return to
eat, faithful again.

00:02:48.040 --> 00:02:51.220 align:middle line:84%
Cherry pits flow from
the porcelain bowl.

00:02:51.220 --> 00:02:52.900 align:middle line:90%
They cover the carpet.

00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:54.790 align:middle line:90%
They are in my bed.

00:02:54.790 --> 00:02:58.570 align:middle line:84%
And now, only cherry
trees flutter the field,

00:02:58.570 --> 00:03:01.780 align:middle line:84%
drifting into the
air, filling the sun

00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:04.540 align:middle line:90%
as it blooms red and redder.

00:03:04.540 --> 00:03:06.700 align:middle line:90%
I can eat no more.

00:03:06.700 --> 00:03:08.770 align:middle line:90%
It is time for school.

00:03:08.770 --> 00:03:10.840 align:middle line:90%
The children are quarreling.

00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:15.910 align:middle line:84%
Cherry pits and their kisses,
orioles and their ears,

00:03:15.910 --> 00:03:19.100 align:middle line:90%
join me, be with me.

00:03:19.100 --> 00:03:20.290 align:middle line:90%
Hold on.

00:03:20.290 --> 00:03:23.340 align:middle line:90%
We have everything to lose."