WEBVTT

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And then every Indian has
to have a commod poem,

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so this is my commod poem.

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I was telling Susan,
actually-- this morning we

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had a meeting about language,
and I wanted French toast,

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but it had raisins in it.

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And this has an
epigraph from Mencius.

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"Is it only the mouth and belly
that are injured by hunger?"

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"Why I Hate Raisins."

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"Love is a pound of sticky
raisins packed tight

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in black and white
government boxes the day

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we had no groceries.

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I told my mom I was hungry.

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She gave me the
whole bright box.

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USDA stamped like
a fist on the side.

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I ate them all in ten minutes.

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Ate too many too fast.

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It wasn't long before those old
grapes set like black stones

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at the bottom of my belly
making it ache and swell.

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I complained, I hate raisins.

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I just wanted a sandwich
like the other kids.

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Well that's all we've
got, my mom sighed.

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And what other kids?

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Everyone but me, I told her.

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She said, you mean
the white kids.

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You want to be a white kid?

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Well too bad 'cause
you're my kid.

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I cried, at least the
white kids get a sandwich.

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At least the white kids
don't get the shits."

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[LAUGHTER]

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"That's when she slapped me.

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Left me holding my
mouth and stomach--

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left me to be devoured by shame.

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To this day, I hate raisins, not
for the crooked commodity lines

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we stood in to
get them-- winding

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around and in the
tribal gymnasium.

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Not for the awkward cardboard
boxes we carried them home in.

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Not for the shits or how
they distended my belly.

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I hate raisins
because now I know

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my mom was hungry that day,
too, and I ate all the raisins.

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Thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]

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