WEBVTT

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Now this is the part--

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we're going to go into
what I was going to read,

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some of the things
I want to read,

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that would give
homage to my father.

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My father died about
four or five years ago.

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And I think it's always
important to pay tribute

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to your parents.

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This is the poem that, when
the people killed themselves

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in Rancho Santa Fe, 39 of them--

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and I was on my way to my wife.

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My wife has an art gallery
in downtown San Diego.

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And I was riding on
the freeway and they

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said 16 people were
dead in this place.

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And by the time I
got there, it was 18.

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And so by the time
I left it was 20.

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And so by the time I got
home, it was like 22.

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The next morning -
So I knew I was going

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to write a poem about that.

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I didn't know what.

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But the next morning
they said it was 39.

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So I knew it was going
to be-- this poem is

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going to be a sestina
because it's 39 people dead.

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39 lives, cold trip.

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The whole thing is then,
you had to pick six work.

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So this part--

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[LAUGHTER]

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Let me see.

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

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Yeah.

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So this poem is called
"Sestina for 39 Angels."

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"There was no screaming to
announce Hale-Bopp comet's

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second tail.

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No screaming when those 39
people left their bodies,

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their containers behind.

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Cover their faces with purple,
silk shrouds, folded triangles.

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Lay down smiling and
fell into this deep sleep

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Marshall Applewhite
had prescribed for them

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deep inside their death
mansion in Rancho Santa Fe.

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They knew themselves as angels,
sleuths at creating websites,

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cruising the internet,
space angels flying

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on wings of ancient
dreams upward

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to Hale-Bopp comet's tail.

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And the only way to get there,
through the invisible doorway

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of death.

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Launched through
skies of their minds,

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they will their bodies on
Earth as people of Jonestown

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did, to be recycled
through sleep.

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Bodies board-stiff and
bloated, looking for peace.

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Skin purple going black
as the clothes they wore.

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Covered 39 faces
with purple symbols.

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The color of lenten Holy Week.

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When Jesus rose
up to join angels,

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39 travelers wore
black Nike shoes weaved

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through 39 catacombs of sleep.

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Dream themselves up
like 39 shooting stars

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to Hale-Bopp comet's
tail of silver ice,

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where they would
transform their bodies.

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18 buzz-haired castrated males.

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21 females serving
death's internet to pass

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through heaven's
gates needle eye.

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And death, not even a spot over
here, for these souls to rest

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dressed in black and purple.

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Quarters for phone calls.

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$5 bills for whatever
urges their bodies

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needed before flying
through space.

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39 dreams.

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They would be truly
angels rendezvousing

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with the mothership, hidden
inside Hale-Bopp comet's tail.

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Live with
extraterrestrials there

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in a sleeve of ice, silver ice.

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After sleep cut them loose
to flow through steep mystery

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above as sleek, like rocket
fuel, fell away over stages.

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Left them asphyxiated in death.

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After phenobarbital,
applesauce and vodka,

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they knew the silver
ice tail as the sign

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they were waiting for
to cover themselves

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with shrouds of purple.

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Leave behind computer
sky, screen skies.

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They flew purely as angels
now toward a higher source

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than any conflicting
urges of their bodies.

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A tangle of websites conquer
and control their bodies,

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surrendering the
improvisation of living.

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They swam in sleep,
drifting slowly

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as motorless boats
on the sea, where

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homeless angels took 39
pot pies and cheesecakes

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for their journey.

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They kissed death
hard with dry mouths.

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39 people down from 1,000
pursed lips of purple.

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Open in wonder, they flew up
to enter Hale-Bopp comet's tail

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of silver, ice particles.

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Gashes, bodies, grinning
there like death.

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Skulls flashing inside sleep.

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Inside where I'm
dreaming now of purple,

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faith flashing bright as new
angels inside Hale-Bopp comet's

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tail."

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Thanks.

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[APPLAUSE]

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