WEBVTT

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The next poem I'm
going to read I

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wrote after visiting the
Chinese exhibit of sculpture

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at the National Gallery
of Art in Washington.

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All the art students were
there with their sketchbooks,

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sketching the statuary.

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And I was there taking
notes on the little cards

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under the statuary.

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And my favorite was under
this funerary tower.

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And it said, the
meaning of the figures

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carrying babies in
their arms is not clear.

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Just the kind of
statement I like best.

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And I start my poem with it.

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And it's just called,
Funerary Tower, Han Dynasty.

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In this season of
salt, leaves drop away,

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revealing the
structure of the trees.

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Good bones, as my
father would say,

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drawing the hair from my face.

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I'd pull impatiently away.

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Today, we visit
my father's grave.

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My mother house keeps with
trowel among the stones

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already at home here.

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Impatient, even at
40, I hurry her home.

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We carry our
childhoods in our arms.

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