And I'm going to read one last poem,
and it's a very short poem.
And I really thank you for your attention tonight.
You're a lovely audience, and it's great to be here.
This is just a very--
I write long poems, as you can tell.
I know that someone once said that brevity
is the soul of wit, but I don't believe it.
But I'm going to read you this very brief poem.
And it is called, very simply, "Prayer."
"The sky is clear as a jinn.
I could lay my body down, sleep in the calm
nights, the peace of the winter wind.
And the deep, black sky that makes me forget the morning
light makes me remember.
Now I see the stars, a million tongues of fire.
I am so small.
The Earth beneath my feet is giving, strong, but slowly,
slowly dying.
Tonight, I want.
There has to be a God."
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]