WEBVTT NOTE Created by CaptionSync from Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com 00:00:01.826 --> 00:00:03.786 align:middle >> This is the last poem I'd like to read for you. 00:00:03.786 --> 00:00:05.046 align:middle It's called Clifton at night. 00:00:05.616 --> 00:00:07.386 align:middle I like to write poems about the dark. 00:00:07.956 --> 00:00:10.496 align:middle I used to visit in Clifton often, as a girl. 00:00:11.036 --> 00:00:14.306 align:middle My relatives used to live high up on one of those hills, 00:00:14.596 --> 00:00:17.046 align:middle overlooking the little park that's there in Clifton. 00:00:17.956 --> 00:00:22.356 align:middle Clifton was not so unusual in that nothing ever happened. 00:00:22.536 --> 00:00:25.616 align:middle There are a lot of towns like that, where nothing ever happens. 00:00:26.276 --> 00:00:31.776 align:middle But Clifton, at that time, seemed to me like a place where nothing could happen. 00:00:32.146 --> 00:00:35.776 align:middle And that makes it something memorable. 00:00:37.316 --> 00:00:39.096 align:middle Clifton at night. 00:00:40.336 --> 00:00:49.446 align:middle We sit so high above the river, all is a step down or yards down, or miles down. 00:00:49.936 --> 00:00:57.116 align:middle The ground beneath this porch, the steps down the hill, the park wall dropping to the river, 00:00:57.636 --> 00:01:00.776 align:middle the water's edge punching to the water bottom. 00:01:01.766 --> 00:01:06.826 align:middle How far do our words go out to the river before they drop down? 00:01:07.986 --> 00:01:09.956 align:middle Does a loud laugh go further? 00:01:10.766 --> 00:01:13.726 align:middle What if I screamed, wanting to touch the bottom? 00:01:15.216 --> 00:01:19.696 align:middle We sit in shadows, looking out toward the river which we cannot see. 00:01:20.316 --> 00:01:22.926 align:middle The cat may be beneath this poster porch. 00:01:23.286 --> 00:01:28.576 align:middle There may be a small dog walking beside the stream or a fish passing in the mirk. 00:01:29.226 --> 00:01:36.356 align:middle The porch creeks, the street sounds and the park's chatter rises to us. 00:01:37.336 --> 00:01:41.666 align:middle Once in the park, a girl rang by girls, I chanted a sonnet. 00:01:42.356 --> 00:01:47.426 align:middle They did not know what it was, but wanted it again like cake because they're in the park 00:01:47.426 --> 00:01:49.816 align:middle at night, the river made it theirs. 00:01:51.096 --> 00:01:55.616 align:middle The train doesn't come at night but it could cross. 00:01:58.366 --> 00:01:58.786 align:middle Excuse me. 00:01:58.996 --> 00:02:02.816 align:middle The train doesn't come at night but it could cross against the river. 00:02:02.816 --> 00:02:05.536 align:middle A car could cross over the bridge. 00:02:06.496 --> 00:02:09.116 align:middle We could chant, instead of speak. 00:02:09.846 --> 00:02:11.776 align:middle Why is it we do not? 00:02:13.186 --> 00:02:20.246 align:middle Looking down on the park, I recall those magic runs, the wealth they brought, 00:02:21.106 --> 00:02:29.546 align:middle steadying though nothing come or cross, but the river and one star above Shannon Hill. 00:02:30.556 --> 00:02:30.926 align:middle Thank you.