WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.080 align:middle line:90%


00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:05.870 align:middle line:84%
This next poem is called
"Three Hard Sonnets."

00:00:05.870 --> 00:00:08.630 align:middle line:84%
They aren't formally
sonnets, but they're short.

00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:12.500 align:middle line:90%


00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:16.280 align:middle line:84%
They go together, I guess,
because I wrote them

00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:18.710 align:middle line:90%
all at once in a fit of anger.

00:00:18.710 --> 00:00:24.540 align:middle line:90%


00:00:24.540 --> 00:00:30.960 align:middle line:84%
The last one has to do with
what people expect of you

00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.450 align:middle line:90%
or are demanding of you.

00:00:33.450 --> 00:00:39.390 align:middle line:84%
The second one is four brief
dreams of death that I've had.

00:00:39.390 --> 00:00:47.380 align:middle line:84%
The first one is about
things total strangers have

00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:48.280 align:middle line:90%
said to me.

00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:52.190 align:middle line:90%


00:00:52.190 --> 00:00:54.047 align:middle line:90%
"Three Hard Sonnets."

00:00:54.047 --> 00:00:56.910 align:middle line:90%


00:00:56.910 --> 00:00:59.070 align:middle line:84%
"'If you can buy
all those groceries,

00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:01.290 align:middle line:84%
why do you wear those
clothes?' the woman said.

00:01:01.290 --> 00:01:06.310 align:middle line:90%


00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:08.200 align:middle line:90%
The phone rang.

00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:12.820 align:middle line:84%
'If you answer our question,
you can take a trip.'

00:01:12.820 --> 00:01:15.730 align:middle line:84%
'What do you think of me?'
said the gambler telling me his

00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:17.950 align:middle line:90%
life.

00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:20.590 align:middle line:84%
'Are you lost?'
asked the policeman.

00:01:20.590 --> 00:01:22.870 align:middle line:90%
'Why don't you smile?'

00:01:22.870 --> 00:01:24.640 align:middle line:90%
No.

00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:30.130 align:middle line:84%
She said, 'Some time I'd
love to talk with you.'

00:01:30.130 --> 00:01:32.980 align:middle line:84%
He walked out the door
without saying goodbye.

00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:39.240 align:middle line:90%


00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:41.880 align:middle line:90%
I parked in the driveway.

00:01:41.880 --> 00:01:46.200 align:middle line:84%
Getting out, I glimpsed the body
of a tall Indian brave framed

00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:50.280 align:middle line:84%
on the floor of
the station wagon.

00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.010 align:middle line:84%
Another time, one
of those big family

00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:57.630 align:middle line:84%
dinners, we invited Uncle George
and he hooked over the table

00:01:57.630 --> 00:02:01.590 align:middle line:90%
from his seat at its head.

00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:06.330 align:middle line:84%
She sewed me a red dress,
but said, finish this ham.

00:02:06.330 --> 00:02:07.365 align:middle line:90%
I'm going away.

00:02:07.365 --> 00:02:10.350 align:middle line:90%


00:02:10.350 --> 00:02:14.700 align:middle line:84%
An old corpse of myself
obstructed our stairwell.

00:02:14.700 --> 00:02:18.150 align:middle line:84%
I covered its face
with papers and books.

00:02:18.150 --> 00:02:24.500 align:middle line:90%


00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:29.420 align:middle line:84%
Proof, proof, it sounds like
something going up in smoke.

00:02:29.420 --> 00:02:34.760 align:middle line:84%
Abracadabra smoke producing
the answer to nothing.

00:02:34.760 --> 00:02:38.450 align:middle line:84%
At ease, at ease, you
must look at ease.

00:02:38.450 --> 00:02:40.850 align:middle line:84%
There are places
for nervousness.

00:02:40.850 --> 00:02:43.040 align:middle line:84%
Stand trembling
over the wastebasket

00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:46.940 align:middle line:90%
till anxiety falls in.

00:02:46.940 --> 00:02:49.070 align:middle line:90%
Beautiful, beautiful.

00:02:49.070 --> 00:02:52.340 align:middle line:90%
I have no big toe, no knee.

00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:59.460 align:middle line:84%
Compliments buried them
as well as insult. Action.

00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:01.860 align:middle line:90%
OK, enough, enough.

00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:03.890 align:middle line:90%
Wrap it up."

00:03:03.890 --> 00:03:07.000 align:middle line:90%