WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 align:middle line:90% 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:05.500 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:09.280 align:middle line:84% I want to read one more poem from this manuscript, 00:00:09.280 --> 00:00:14.440 align:middle line:84% and then I'll end up with a couple of poems, lighter poems, 00:00:14.440 --> 00:00:17.650 align:middle line:90% from Lucky Life. 00:00:17.650 --> 00:00:26.820 align:middle line:84% I have two poems here where I'm wandering down 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:28.567 align:middle line:90% the street with some-- 00:00:28.567 --> 00:00:30.900 align:middle line:84% I've discovered that I have a whole bunch of poems where 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:33.210 align:middle line:90% I'm walking with somebody. 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:36.210 align:middle line:90% I mean, two men talking. 00:00:36.210 --> 00:00:38.565 align:middle line:84% They are just two men walking down the street talking. 00:00:38.565 --> 00:00:40.732 align:middle line:84% I have a poem in Red Coal called The Hungarian which 00:00:40.732 --> 00:00:41.863 align:middle line:90% is about that. 00:00:41.863 --> 00:00:43.530 align:middle line:84% In one of these poems, I'm taking a walk 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:45.540 align:middle line:84% with Philip Levine, and in another one 00:00:45.540 --> 00:00:48.030 align:middle line:84% I'm walking down the street with Ezra Pound. 00:00:48.030 --> 00:00:52.140 align:middle line:90% 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:55.500 align:middle line:84% I think I'll do the Levine poem because it mentions 00:00:55.500 --> 00:01:00.720 align:middle line:84% that island where the rotten angels swam across 00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:03.850 align:middle line:90% to the Pennsylvania side. 00:01:03.850 --> 00:01:07.810 align:middle line:84% The poem is called "Leaving Another Kingdom." 00:01:07.810 --> 00:01:08.650 align:middle line:90% It's a spring poem. 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:13.900 align:middle line:90% 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:16.870 align:middle line:84% I think this year I'll wait for the white lilacs 00:01:16.870 --> 00:01:19.750 align:middle line:90% before I get too sad. 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:22.720 align:middle line:84% I'll let the daffodils go, flower by flower, 00:01:22.720 --> 00:01:25.870 align:middle line:84% and the blue squill go, and the primroses. 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:29.860 align:middle line:84% Levine will be here by then, waving fountains pens, 00:01:29.860 --> 00:01:34.660 align:middle line:84% carrying rolled-up posters of Ike Williams and King Levinsky. 00:01:34.660 --> 00:01:37.030 align:middle line:84% He will be reaching into his breast pocket for maps 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:40.480 align:middle line:84% of grim Toledo showing the downtown grilles and the bus 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:42.220 align:middle line:90% station. 00:01:42.220 --> 00:01:44.950 align:middle line:84% He and I together will get on our hands and knees 00:01:44.950 --> 00:01:49.900 align:middle line:84% on the warm ground in the muddy roses under the thorn tree. 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.270 align:middle line:84% We will walk the mile to my graveyard 00:01:52.270 --> 00:01:56.320 align:middle line:84% without one word of regret, two rich poets 00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:00.070 align:middle line:84% going over the past a little, changing a thing or two, 00:02:00.070 --> 00:02:02.710 align:middle line:84% making a few connections, doing it all with balance. 00:02:02.710 --> 00:02:06.010 align:middle line:84% Stopping along the way to pet a wolf, 00:02:06.010 --> 00:02:08.949 align:middle line:84% slowing down at the locks, giving each other lectures 00:02:08.949 --> 00:02:12.910 align:middle line:84% on early technology, mentioning eels and snakes, 00:02:12.910 --> 00:02:16.270 align:middle line:84% touching a little on our two cities, cursing our Henrys 00:02:16.270 --> 00:02:19.600 align:middle line:90% a little, his Ford, my Frick. 00:02:19.600 --> 00:02:22.750 align:middle line:84% Being almost human about it, almost decent. 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:25.270 align:middle line:84% Sliding over the stones to reach the island, 00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:27.190 align:middle line:90% throwing spears on the way. 00:02:27.190 --> 00:02:31.000 align:middle line:84% Staring for 20 minutes at two robins starting a life together 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:33.190 align:middle line:90% in rural Pennsylvania. 00:02:33.190 --> 00:02:38.080 align:middle line:84% Kicking a heavy tire, square and monstrous, huge and soggy, 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:41.140 align:middle line:84% maybe a '49 Hudson, maybe a '40 Packard, 00:02:41.140 --> 00:02:44.680 align:middle line:84% maybe a Buick with mohair seats and silken cords 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:46.720 align:middle line:90% and tiny panes of glass. 00:02:46.720 --> 00:02:49.420 align:middle line:84% Both of us seeing the same car, each of us 00:02:49.420 --> 00:02:51.280 align:middle line:90% driving our own brick road. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.040 align:middle line:84% Both of us whistling the same idiotic songs. 00:02:54.040 --> 00:02:57.550 align:middle line:84% The tops of trees flying, houses sailing along, 00:02:57.550 --> 00:02:59.290 align:middle line:90% the way they did then. 00:02:59.290 --> 00:03:02.470 align:middle line:84% Both of us walking down to the end of the island so we could 00:03:02.470 --> 00:03:04.780 align:middle line:84% put our feet in the water, so I could show him where 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:08.080 align:middle line:84% the current starts, so we could look for bottles and worn-out 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:13.000 align:middle line:84% rubbers, Trojans full of holes, the guarantee run out-- 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.360 align:middle line:90% love gone slack love gone flat-- 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:19.150 align:middle line:84% a few feet away from New Jersey near the stones 00:03:19.150 --> 00:03:22.090 align:middle line:84% that look like large white turtles guarding the entrance 00:03:22.090 --> 00:03:26.410 align:middle line:84% to the dangerous channel where those lovers, Tristan 00:03:26.410 --> 00:03:30.310 align:middle line:84% and his Isolt, Troilus and you know who, came roaring 00:03:30.310 --> 00:03:33.880 align:middle line:84% by on inner tubes, their faces wet with happiness. 00:03:33.880 --> 00:03:36.640 align:middle line:84% The shrieks and sighs left up the river somewhere. 00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:39.160 align:middle line:84% Now their fingers trailing through the wake, now 00:03:39.160 --> 00:03:40.600 align:middle line:84% their arms out to keep themselves 00:03:40.600 --> 00:03:43.630 align:middle line:84% from falling, now in the slow part past the turtles 00:03:43.630 --> 00:03:44.710 align:middle line:90% and into the bend. 00:03:44.710 --> 00:03:49.000 align:middle line:84% We sitting there putting on our shoes, he with Nikes, 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:50.920 align:middle line:90% me with Georgia loggers. 00:03:50.920 --> 00:03:52.780 align:middle line:84% Standing up and smelling the river, 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:55.720 align:middle line:84% walking single file until we reach the pebbles, 00:03:55.720 --> 00:03:57.940 align:middle line:84% singing in French all the way back. 00:03:57.940 --> 00:04:01.210 align:middle line:84% Losing the robins forever, losing the Buick. 00:04:01.210 --> 00:04:04.570 align:middle line:84% Walking into the water, leaving another island, 00:04:04.570 --> 00:04:07.450 align:middle line:84% leaving another retreat, leaving another kingdom. 00:04:07.450 --> 00:04:11.420 align:middle line:90% 00:04:11.420 --> 00:04:14.080 align:middle line:84% Let me read you a couple of short poems.