WEBVTT

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The boarding school
in Albuquerque

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where most of these
poems came from

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was an interesting
place, because there

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were four or five churches that
surrounded the boarding school.

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There was the Mormon church, the
Catholic, Christian Reformed,

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Presbyterian, and there
was one other church.

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So every Sunday, we'd have
to go to these churches.

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And so I wrote a poem about
being at the boarding school

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and having to go
to these churches.

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It's called "The Sacrament."

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"The Sacrament.

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One Sunday morning after a
spring rain, Mary Lou and I

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went behind the Mormon church
on the corner of Cutler

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and Indian School Road.

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There among the wet grass
and soft brown Earth,

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the air smelled heavy
with primordial smells

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of leaves, roots, and water.

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I don't remember who suggested
it, but as if by some instinct,

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we scooped a handful of
dirt into our mouths.

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It was like so many marbles
rolling and scattering,

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crunching between our teeth.

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Later, we sat in a neat
row of metal folding chairs

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while the acne-faced Mormons
broke up slices of white bread

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as we sang.

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As we eat the broken
bread, thine approval on us

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shed, as we drink
the water clear.

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Occasionally, a
grain or two of sand

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still crunched in our mouths."

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I don't know how many of you--

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after it rains, there's
this very beautiful smell

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that comes from the wet Earth.

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I don't know how many of you
have ever felt like eating dirt

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when you smell that, but I did.

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We used to eat dirt.

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And this home came about
because a friend of mine,

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we were waiting for
the doors to open.

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And we were standing
around outside,

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and this water was dripping.

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We each took some dirt
and put it in our mouths.

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And so when I go to
my poetry readings,

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I always ask people, how many
of you here have eaten dirt?

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And usually, Indian people
always raise their hand.

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I eat dirt.

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I like dirt.

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