WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.068 align:middle line:90% 00:00:08.068 --> 00:00:10.110 align:middle line:84% We're going to read a poem about ducks because we 00:00:10.110 --> 00:00:12.457 align:middle line:90% talked about ducks at supper. 00:00:12.457 --> 00:00:14.790 align:middle line:84% Some animal, we were talking about an animal, a dog that 00:00:14.790 --> 00:00:16.420 align:middle line:90% is trained to kill ducks. 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:18.180 align:middle line:90% That's really depraved. 00:00:18.180 --> 00:00:20.010 align:middle line:84% I didn't want to say anything to Susan. 00:00:20.010 --> 00:00:21.795 align:middle line:90% But anybody can kill a duck. 00:00:21.795 --> 00:00:25.020 align:middle line:90% 00:00:25.020 --> 00:00:26.790 align:middle line:84% There used to be a comedian that probably 00:00:26.790 --> 00:00:28.890 align:middle line:84% no more than three people in this room 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:31.890 align:middle line:84% remember by the name of Joey Penner. 00:00:31.890 --> 00:00:34.927 align:middle line:84% And he used to say what about a duck? 00:00:34.927 --> 00:00:35.760 align:middle line:90% Do you remember him? 00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:40.380 align:middle line:90% 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:43.950 align:middle line:84% And the poem is called Your Animal. 00:00:43.950 --> 00:00:48.660 align:middle line:84% It's an attack on gnosticism except that I love gnosticism 00:00:48.660 --> 00:00:51.480 align:middle line:84% in many ways and I beg forgiveness 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:52.980 align:middle line:90% of all gnostics in the crowd. 00:00:52.980 --> 00:00:55.820 align:middle line:90% 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:58.820 align:middle line:90% I won't say any more about it. 00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:01.160 align:middle line:84% The final end of all but purified souls 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:03.680 align:middle line:84% is to be swallowed up by Leviathan 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:06.410 align:middle line:84% or to be bound with fiery chains and flogged 00:01:06.410 --> 00:01:09.140 align:middle line:90% with 70 stripes of fire. 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:13.280 align:middle line:84% I walk along the mule path dreaming of my weaknesses 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.310 align:middle line:84% and praying to the ducks for forgiveness. 00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:18.980 align:middle line:84% Oh, there is so much shit in the universe. 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:22.640 align:middle line:84% And my walks like yours are more and more slippery 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:24.650 align:middle line:90% and dangerous. 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:28.610 align:middle line:84% I love a duck for being almost like a vegetable. 00:01:28.610 --> 00:01:30.170 align:middle line:84% I love him because his whole body 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:34.610 align:middle line:84% can be consumed because there is no distance between him 00:01:34.610 --> 00:01:37.040 align:middle line:90% and his watery offal. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:40.850 align:middle line:84% Your animal is almost human distant from his waist, 00:01:40.850 --> 00:01:43.850 align:middle line:84% struggling to overcome the hated matter looking up 00:01:43.850 --> 00:01:47.840 align:middle line:84% with horrified white eyes eternally hunting for space 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.510 align:middle line:84% in the little islands of Riverside Drive and the fenced 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:52.550 align:middle line:90% in parks of the village. 00:01:52.550 --> 00:01:55.970 align:middle line:84% I love duck and potatoes, duck and red beets, duck 00:01:55.970 --> 00:01:57.290 align:middle line:90% and orange juice. 00:01:57.290 --> 00:02:00.110 align:middle line:84% I love the head of duck dipped in sugar. 00:02:00.110 --> 00:02:02.930 align:middle line:84% I love chocolate duck with chipolata sausages, 00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:06.140 align:middle line:84% fragrant crisp duck mixed with shrimp and pork. 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:07.610 align:middle line:90% I love the webs and the heart. 00:02:07.610 --> 00:02:10.850 align:middle line:84% I love the eggs preserved in lime and potash, 00:02:10.850 --> 00:02:13.910 align:middle line:84% completely boned duck filled with ham and chestnuts, 00:02:13.910 --> 00:02:16.860 align:middle line:84% fried duck with pineapple with canned red cherries 00:02:16.860 --> 00:02:19.460 align:middle line:90% or sections of tangerine. 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:22.010 align:middle line:84% This is a poem against gnosticism. 00:02:22.010 --> 00:02:24.710 align:middle line:84% It is a poem against the hatred of the flesh and all 00:02:24.710 --> 00:02:26.870 align:middle line:84% the vicious twists and turns we take 00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:29.120 align:middle line:90% to calm our frightened souls. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:31.910 align:middle line:84% It is a poem celebrating the eating of duck 00:02:31.910 --> 00:02:33.830 align:middle line:90% and all that goes with it. 00:02:33.830 --> 00:02:36.380 align:middle line:84% It is a poem I'm able to write after walking 00:02:36.380 --> 00:02:40.040 align:middle line:84% every day through the flocks and loving the babies 00:02:40.040 --> 00:02:42.590 align:middle line:84% and watching them slip down the mud sides 00:02:42.590 --> 00:02:44.480 align:middle line:90% and float into the currents. 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:46.760 align:middle line:84% It is a poem about shooting galleries and cardboard 00:02:46.760 --> 00:02:48.950 align:middle line:84% heads about hunters in their checkered hats 00:02:48.950 --> 00:02:51.740 align:middle line:84% and frozen fingers about snow white claws 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:54.740 align:middle line:84% and steaming laced up birds and waiters standing 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:56.960 align:middle line:84% in little regiments getting ready to run in 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.750 align:middle line:84% among the tables and start carving. 00:02:59.750 --> 00:03:02.930 align:middle line:84% It is my poem against the starving heart. 00:03:02.930 --> 00:03:04.340 align:middle line:90% It is my victory over meanness. 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:07.940 align:middle line:90% 00:03:07.940 --> 00:03:09.500 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:10.000 align:middle line:90%