WEBVTT

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This is my new one, my latest.

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Yeah, my latest.

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Nobody's seen it.

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Yeah, one friend.

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Finally, I had to do it.

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I had to show it.

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I was just going to
save it for the night

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and just bore you all with it.

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It's long.

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I have to ask you to be patient.

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It's not real long, but you
see, it's one, two, three,

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four stanzas, and you've
got to pay attention.

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And I would appreciate it if
you would because I sort of feel

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like it sums up all the
things I've said in a way,

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and yet it doesn't put an end.

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You see there is no end
and there's no beginning.

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There are only in--

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there's only an end to things
that are trapped in time.

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If you live beyond time,
then there's no end.

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And it took this from--

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this title from
Chuck Berry's song.

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You know, "I'm Almost Grown."

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I liked that title.

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And this-- I don't know.

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Well, I shouldn't have--

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I'm not apologizing for it.

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I'm just asking you
for a little courtesy.

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I know it's hard to
sit through long poems.

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I hate them myself.

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But if you pay really
close attention,

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I think the last line will
bring it all together.

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But maybe it won't.

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Its titled "You
Know, Almost Grown."

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"I swing up on the
sideboard of the old car.

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Mother says nothing,
just watches me

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and sucks on unlit pipe.

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The sister is still
too young to get away,

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dabs a few, silently shed tears
with the end of her blue apron.

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The red bitch runs
behind yapping,

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and veers into the
charge field where

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she chases her tail,
and building speed,

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makes wider and wider
circles until she is only

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a streak of fire.

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Finally, burning
herself to a quick stop.

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I ride off to town,
wearing the smell

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of hay better than
I do these starched

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coveralls, my dead father's
shirt patched under each arm

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and the underwear I bought
especially for today.

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I get off at the feed
store, hang around.

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The older men who are playing
cards on top of a wooden crate

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ignore me.

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There must be some doings maybe
at the cafe up the street.

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I carry the bulky card--

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sorry.

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I carry the bulky cardboard box
that holds my things under one

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arm, swinging the other.

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I see Jake, the bootlegger's
car parked in front.

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And when I am close, the
sun strikes its gray steel

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with a hammer.

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I shade my eyes from the
glare, grope for the door

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handle catch it
and stagger inside.

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The cooler rattles a welcome.

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The waitress, May,
hollers from the kitchen,

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but I can't make
out what she says.

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I sit on a stool with a
box propped up beside me.

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Suddenly, Jake comes out,
May follow soon after.

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Now I understand.

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He winks at me.

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She takes my order
and I watch her behind

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as she walks toward the far
end of the counter, where

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Jake sits waiting, twisting the
long gold chain of his watch.

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I grunt with satisfaction.

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Good I moved.

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Left the farm to finish
dying without me.

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I take out my $10 bill, rub
it, feeling all the things I

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can buy with it, a striped tie.

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One more box of cigars.

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A room for a week at the hotel.

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Two more days and I start
work at the gas station.

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Hell, it's great.

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I take a big bite out
of the hamburger May

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has set on the counter.

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Jake gets up, May
reaches for him.

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He shakes his head
and walks outside.

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Pretty soon, I hear a sobbing.

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May, he hurt May.

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I go into the small
kitchen, she's

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lying on a cot jammed
against the wall.

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I bend over her.

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She lifts her hand, touches me
in that private place the way

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no woman ever has.

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I'm clumsy, but it gets done
same as anything I guess.

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She shoves me, cursing.

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Money, she wants money.

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I'm nervous.

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I clutch the ten
then throw it at her.

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Whore, bitch, I say.

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She yells.

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I run, grabbing my box.

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In the street again.

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The heat, my empty pockets
heavy as if filled with coins.

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At the gas station, I
slip into the men's room

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and bolt the door.

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I sit on the dusty toilet and
lean back against the tank.

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Shit, I'm not through yet.

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I heard this somewhere
and it's true.

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It's got to be.

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You can't tell a shotgun
or a man what to do."

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Thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]

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