WEBVTT

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That means that I
mean business now.

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See, I'm getting
all straightened up.

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OK, I'm going to
get into the poems

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that I'm sort of serious about.

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Oh, I meant to give you
comic relief before this one,

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but I decided, why should I?

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You don't deserve it.

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You'll get it afterward.

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This is the one-- it took
me a year to write it.

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And it's a good poem, I
think, but it's horrible,

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the whole subject.

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So I'll allow a little
silence afterwards

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so you can sort of ingest it.

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It's called, "Child Beater."

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"Outside, the rain, pinafore of
gray water, dresses the town.

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And I stroke the
leather belt. And she

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sits in the rocking chair
holding a crushed paper

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cup to her lips.

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I yell at her, but
she keeps rocking.

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Back, her eyes open.

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Forward, they close.

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Her body somehow fat, though
I feed her only once a day.

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Reminds me of my own
just after she was born.

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It's been seven years, but I
still can't forget how I felt.

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How heavy it feels
to look at her.

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I lay the belt on a chair
and get her dinner bowl.

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I hit the spoon against
it, set it down,

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and watch her crawl
to it, pausing

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after each forward
thrust of her legs.

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And when she takes her
first bite, I grab the belt

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and beat her across the
back until her tears, beads

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of salt-filled glass falling,
shatter on the floor.

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I move off.

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I let her eat, while I
get my dog's chain leash

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from the closet.

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I whirl it around my head.

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Oh, daughter, so far you've
only had a taste of icing.

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Are you ready now
for some cake?"

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Boy, what a depressor.

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