WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome.

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I'm Frances Sjoberg,
the Literary Director

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of the Poetry Center.

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It's a delight to
see you all tonight.

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And we are very, very excited
to present the first recipient

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of the Mary Ann Campau
Memorial Fellowship

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for Southern Arizona writers.

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I'm certain that everyone who
knows Maria Elena Wakamatsu

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agrees with me that she does,
indeed, strengthen and inspire

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our literary community.

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She really does embody the
goal of this fellowship.

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Ms. Wakamatsu will
be introduced tonight

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by Pamela Yosuke, one
of the visionaries

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behind the fellowship, and
a juror on the selection

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committee.

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But before I hand
over the mic to her,

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I have just a couple
of announcements.

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First is that the Mary
Ann Campau Fellowship

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is sponsored by
individual donors

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in our community who
have come together

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to create this award to
recognize our strongest

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poets and community leaders.

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We're still several
thousand dollars short

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of an endowment, which
would allow us to offer

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this award in perpetuity.

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And that is something
we'd like to do.

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We'd like for Maria
Elena to be the first

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in a very long, long line
of fellowship recipients.

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And if anyone in the audience
is interested in learning

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more about how to contribute and
ensure that the Mary Ann Campau

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Fellowship does
sustain, please feel

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free to talk to me
after the reading.

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Tonight we are selling
Like a Waterweed Ghost,

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both in book format and CD
format, as well as the--

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Is it the new issue
of cutthroat, that--

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it's the one that's--

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The issue of Cutthroat Magazine
dedicated to Mary Ann Campau,

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after whom the award is named.

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And all of the
proceeds from sales

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of these books
and CDs, journals,

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will go directly toward
sustaining the fellowships.

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So take a look at those.

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Books are $20, CDs are $10,
as is the journal, $10.

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And, we're continuing
Stanza Bonanza.

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Those of you can
come to our readings

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regularly know about
Stanza Bonanza.

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It is a K through 12 book drive
to seed local-area schools

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with great books of poems.

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And one thing that we do
is we offer challenges.

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And tonight's
challenge is this--

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we need 10 copies of Pablo
Neruda's 20 Love Poems

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and a Song of Despair.

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This is for high
school libraries.

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Which is available for sale
for $10, a discounted price.

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And there's a bonus--

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Pat Brooks has offered to
match every single donation

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of Pablo Neruda's
book of 20 Love Poems

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and a Song of Despair with Pablo
Neruda's Book of Questions,

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which will be donated to
middle school libraries.

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That book is on sale for $12,
which means for every $10 book

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that you purchase and
donate to a school library,

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you're actually purchasing two
books for two different age

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levels, and $22 worth
of books for libraries.

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So, it's a pretty
good investment.

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Not to mention the investment
of just building the repertoire

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of great poems in the
minds of our students.

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And we trust that there are
probably several high school

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students here.

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We hope that, I think that
I see some in the audience.

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And we have a special challenge
for high school students.

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We also need 10 copies of
Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din

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and Other Poems, which is
on sale tonight for only $2.

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And for every copy of Gunga
Din that is bought and donated

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to middle school
libraries, Helen Shafer

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has agreed to donate a
copy of Poetry Comics:

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An Animated Anthology,
which is a $15 book, also

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to school libraries.

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Plus, if you purchase a book,
you get this great sticker,

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that I'm not wearing because
I haven't actually purchased,

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yet tonight, but
I will, that says

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"bookworm conservationist".

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[LAUGHTER]

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Great thing to
have on your lapel.

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And one final thing, if
there are other high school

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teachers aside from
Maria Elena tonight,

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I wanted to draw your
attention to the fact

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that Taha Muhammad Ali
and Peter Cole are coming,

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a Palestinian and
Israeli American poet,

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are coming later this month.

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And included in their visit is a
high school matinee performance

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on a Friday morning.

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So if you might be interested
in bringing your class,

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you can talk to me about that.

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And now, please
welcome Pamela Yoshuke.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thank you, Frances.

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It's nice to be back in
town, nice to be back home.

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Thank you all for coming to
the first Mary Ann Campau

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Fellowship reading.

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We're delighted that
this is happening.

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There are so many people
to thank for this.

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First, I'm deeply grateful
to the Poetry Center staff.

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To Frances Sjoberg
and Gail Brown

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for making this
reading possible.

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This night has been incubating
for nearly two years,

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since Tony Luberman,
over there at the table,

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originally suggested
that we ought

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to do something
like a fellowship

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through the Poetry Center
in Mary Ann's name.

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We took Tony's advice.

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Bill Rupert is right here.

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Bill Rupert and I met
with Gail and Frances

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and we started fundraising
for this fellowship.

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I personally would like
to thank all of you who

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have contributed to this fund.

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There are several of you
in the audience tonight,

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and we're eternally
grateful for that.

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To see this project
come to fruition

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is more than gratifying.

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As most of you know,
Mary Ann Campau

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was a resident of
Tucson for 40 years.

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A devoted supporter
of poetry and poets

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in our community, Mary Ann began
taking writing workshops here

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at the Poetry Center, where she
studied with Richard Shelton

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and Richard Siken.

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Then she took workshops at
the U of A Writing Work Center

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with my husband, Bill
Root, and myself.

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When Bill was named First
Poet Laureate of Tucson,

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Mary Ann was tireless
in her promotion of,

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and participation in, as many
community-oriented projects,

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including The Poetry
Chorale, The Annual Free Word

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Festival in Hymnal Park, and a
Quadrilingual Poetry Festival

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featuring Joy Harjo, Demetria
Martinez, and Leslie Silko,

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as well as high school students
from Southwest Arizona, which

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was held at Sunnyside
High School.

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Mary Ann hosted countless
workshops in her home,

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providing mini-grants to those
who could not afford them.

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She attended, supported,
and participated

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in numerous local readings.

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Her poems were published
in local journals,

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including Sandcutters, I think.

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And in 2001, she published
a full-length collection,

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Like a Waterweed Ghost, which
is over here, this blue book.

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It's a limited
edition, and we're

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selling those tonight for $20.

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And all the proceeds, of
course, as Frances said,

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go to this fund.

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In the spirit of Mary
Ann, this fellowship

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recognizes poets
who work actively

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and consistently to support
poetry in the Tucson area.

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I am thrilled to be here to
introduce our first recipient,

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the recipient Maria
Elena Wakamatsu,

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a fine and passionate
poet who has unselfishly

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done so much to promote
poetry in the greater Tucson

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community.

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Born in Sonora,
Mexico, Maria Elena

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is of Japanese-Mexican descent.

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She teaches creative writing
at Desert View High School,

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where she has been
employed the past 20 years,

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and where she continues to
instill a love of poetry

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in her students.

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She is quoted as saying,
"while much of society

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believes that poetry is
dead, I have discovered

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a place where poets are not
even an endangered species,

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much less extinct."

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At Desert View High
School, poetry and poets

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are alive and well.

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Wakamatsu is a member of
"Mujeres que Escriben",

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a long-time Latina
writers' group in Tucson.

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Of the many worthy
and wonderful poets

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who were nominated for
this year's fellowship,

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we felt that Maria
Elena best embodied

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what Mary Ann Campau admired.

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Maria Elena is a
working poet, who

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has long served the community
in a variety of ways,

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and has made poetry more
accessible to everyone

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in our community.

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In making our choice, Bill
Root, Tony Luberman and I

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felt that Maria
Elena is a poet who

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is dedicated to affirming the
perilously beautiful complexity

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at the core of our human family.

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A teacher-poet, Maria Elena
has inspired and helped

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countless students and fellow
poets in Tucson in order

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that their voices be heard.

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As president of the Ocotillo
Literary Endeavors Board,

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Wakamatsu has taught poetry
workshops at the Latina Writers

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Summer Retreat since 2002.

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She has participated in
countless community reading

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series.

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Wakamatsu has also
won several awards

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in recognition of her
dedication as a teacher,

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including the 2006 Scarlet and
Gray Award for Southern Arizona

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Teacher of the Year, and the
2005 Sunnyside School District

00:08:59.950 --> 00:09:02.050 align:middle line:90%
Star Teacher Award.

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You are in for a treat tonight.

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I have read my work
with Maria Elena

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and know her to be an ardent
reader of her own poetry.

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On behalf of the other judges,
Bill Root and Tony Luberman,

00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:17.680 align:middle line:84%
and of the Mary Ann Campau
Fellowship Committee,

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it is my privilege to welcome
to the stage, Maria Elena

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Wakamatsu.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thank you, very, very much for
those very, very kind words.

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A treat, huh?

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I hope so.

00:09:45.730 --> 00:09:48.330 align:middle line:90%


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I'm just glad I made
it, quite frankly.

00:09:50.640 --> 00:09:54.840 align:middle line:84%
I thought I was losing
my voice earlier today.

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My students, in fact I think
I have three my students

00:09:57.630 --> 00:09:59.430 align:middle line:90%
here this evening.

00:09:59.430 --> 00:10:04.140 align:middle line:84%
They said, they said,
you know Miss Wakamatsu,

00:10:04.140 --> 00:10:07.410 align:middle line:84%
we think that you should
just be quiet today--

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[LAUGHTER]

00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:11.280 align:middle line:84%
--and save your
voice for tonight.

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[LAUGHTER]

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They're so thoughtful.

00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:17.880 align:middle line:90%
[LAUGHTER]

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I have a few pieces to read to
you, to share with you tonight.

00:10:23.530 --> 00:10:25.800 align:middle line:84%
The first one is
called "Americana".

00:10:25.800 --> 00:10:28.290 align:middle line:90%
And this piece is--

00:10:28.290 --> 00:10:30.270 align:middle line:84%
the first few pieces
I'm going to read

00:10:30.270 --> 00:10:34.590 align:middle line:84%
are just pieces that I
just absolutely, just love.

00:10:34.590 --> 00:10:44.340 align:middle line:84%
This one I love because,
besides writing, I love jazz.

00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:47.400 align:middle line:90%
"Americana"

00:10:47.400 --> 00:10:51.870 align:middle line:84%
"From under eye-length
bangs he peers into a crowd

00:10:51.870 --> 00:10:56.310 align:middle line:84%
that neither looks nor
listens into the dim.

00:10:56.310 --> 00:11:03.330 align:middle line:84%
Under stark white spotlight
he plays ill, at ease.

00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:08.230 align:middle line:84%
Bass, tight against
bird-like chest.

00:11:08.230 --> 00:11:11.910 align:middle line:90%
He is not of this place.

00:11:11.910 --> 00:11:17.670 align:middle line:84%
Didn't even like this place
until the vamp goes on

00:11:17.670 --> 00:11:21.330 align:middle line:84%
for 20 bars, or has
it been two minutes?

00:11:21.330 --> 00:11:26.220 align:middle line:84%
And he's ready to
jump off into Spain,

00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:31.320 align:middle line:84%
where he's never been,
except with Miles.

00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:35.430 align:middle line:84%
Where dark, sultry
women drip voices.

00:11:35.430 --> 00:11:39.990 align:middle line:84%
Where forests are
cool and air, musky.

00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:44.820 align:middle line:84%
Where Andalusian horses are
white and toros de Miura,

00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:47.730 align:middle line:90%
midnight black.

00:11:47.730 --> 00:11:54.930 align:middle line:84%
Where Madeira wine runs red
and accents ooze like honey.

00:11:54.930 --> 00:12:00.300 align:middle line:84%
Dark, cherry wood and copper
strings take off like that.

00:12:00.300 --> 00:12:03.300 align:middle line:90%
They transfix like that.

00:12:03.300 --> 00:12:08.520 align:middle line:84%
They transform melody into
mantilla, Spanish cones

00:12:08.520 --> 00:12:12.970 align:middle line:90%
and little Goya men.

00:12:12.970 --> 00:12:17.260 align:middle line:84%
Bass imbues the
bottom with light.

00:12:17.260 --> 00:12:23.650 align:middle line:84%
Melds hazards into possibilities
that the bare-legged girl,

00:12:23.650 --> 00:12:29.290 align:middle line:84%
that gypsy girl,
might dance for him.

00:12:29.290 --> 00:12:35.680 align:middle line:84%
That the red ruffles
might snap for him.

00:12:35.680 --> 00:12:40.780 align:middle line:84%
That the long bear arms
might rise above her head,

00:12:40.780 --> 00:12:44.935 align:middle line:84%
offer tightly-strapped
breasts for him.

00:12:44.935 --> 00:12:47.680 align:middle line:90%


00:12:47.680 --> 00:12:53.800 align:middle line:84%
Heavy lids, almond
eyes, a stolen glance,

00:12:53.800 --> 00:12:56.620 align:middle line:90%
all just for him.

00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:02.980 align:middle line:90%


00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:09.130 align:middle line:84%
Fury of raven hair and
beautiful red swirls and whirls,

00:13:09.130 --> 00:13:12.460 align:middle line:84%
adding tidal pools,
vamp in six eight

00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:15.760 align:middle line:90%
for 20 bars or 20 minutes?

00:13:15.760 --> 00:13:18.610 align:middle line:90%
Until fingers smoke.

00:13:18.610 --> 00:13:23.440 align:middle line:84%
Blonde arm hairs
bristle and he jumps off

00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:28.680 align:middle line:90%
into her skin, and Spain."

00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:32.040 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:13:32.040 --> 00:13:34.440 align:middle line:90%


00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:41.900 align:middle line:84%
Just some gorgeous gringo
playing this jazz bass.

00:13:41.900 --> 00:13:43.970 align:middle line:90%
Just fell in love with it.

00:13:43.970 --> 00:13:50.540 align:middle line:84%
This next piece is called
"Quinceañera" and it's about,

00:13:50.540 --> 00:13:53.810 align:middle line:84%
again, another piece
about things that I love.

00:13:53.810 --> 00:13:57.320 align:middle line:90%
Yeah, I'm Mexican.

00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.990 align:middle line:84%
Got to write a piece
about quinceañeras.

00:13:59.990 --> 00:14:02.240 align:middle line:84%
May be a little
different, but still.

00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:05.120 align:middle line:90%
"Quinceañera"

00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:12.380 align:middle line:84%
"At 15, her dreams
were of Fidel and Che.

00:14:12.380 --> 00:14:15.710 align:middle line:84%
Not blue-black
nights of romance.

00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:19.250 align:middle line:90%
Not knights in shining armor.

00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:24.110 align:middle line:84%
She wanted to fly on
the back of a quetzal.

00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:28.230 align:middle line:84%
To soar like Icarus
on milk-proof wings.

00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:32.210 align:middle line:84%
Among white doves,
Olympic spirit,

00:14:32.210 --> 00:14:36.320 align:middle line:90%
and corn-blue Mexican skies.

00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:44.390 align:middle line:84%
She wanted to March con
intelectuales y campesinos

00:14:44.390 --> 00:14:49.520 align:middle line:84%
through Tlatelolco, down
ancient streets once paved

00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:54.740 align:middle line:90%
with gold, now bathed in blood.

00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:59.180 align:middle line:84%
Central cultural
turned slaughterhouse.

00:14:59.180 --> 00:15:06.530 align:middle line:84%
A few escaped, clutching dreams
of peace and justice for all."

00:15:06.530 --> 00:15:09.953 align:middle line:90%


00:15:09.953 --> 00:15:13.376 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:15:13.376 --> 00:15:16.310 align:middle line:90%


00:15:16.310 --> 00:15:18.830 align:middle line:90%
"This is Home, Too."

00:15:18.830 --> 00:15:23.990 align:middle line:84%
I wrote this after a road trip
that I took up to San Francisco

00:15:23.990 --> 00:15:26.480 align:middle line:90%
and around Monterrey.

00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:31.160 align:middle line:84%
And those trees, those
beautiful cypress trees, it

00:15:31.160 --> 00:15:37.190 align:middle line:84%
just seemed to be carved and
perched on mountainsides there.

00:15:37.190 --> 00:15:40.490 align:middle line:84%
Just, it looked
like giant bonsai.

00:15:40.490 --> 00:15:43.100 align:middle line:90%
"This is Home, Too"

00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:48.050 align:middle line:84%
"Above Big Sur, you
cling to craggy soil,

00:15:48.050 --> 00:15:52.130 align:middle line:90%
your sinews remember black loam.

00:15:52.130 --> 00:15:58.550 align:middle line:84%
Your lace canopy, cherry
blossoms in the air.

00:15:58.550 --> 00:16:01.790 align:middle line:90%
A distant flute trills.

00:16:01.790 --> 00:16:05.960 align:middle line:84%
And the kimono of an
eight-year-old, that aqua

00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:10.310 align:middle line:84%
and melon one,
flutters under glass.

00:16:10.310 --> 00:16:16.220 align:middle line:84%
The baby doll from Tokyo
rustles in his case.

00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:19.250 align:middle line:90%
Home is in the air.

00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:24.650 align:middle line:84%
And so as not to scare anyone,
you wait until late at night,

00:16:24.650 --> 00:16:30.440 align:middle line:84%
when winds are still and
fog veils the coastline.

00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:36.170 align:middle line:84%
You pull up on ancient
routes, tiptoe inland,

00:16:36.170 --> 00:16:41.390 align:middle line:84%
and graft yourself
onto American soil.

00:16:41.390 --> 00:16:45.260 align:middle line:84%
You travel in the
mist like that.

00:16:45.260 --> 00:16:50.250 align:middle line:84%
Implant yourself
before dawn like that.

00:16:50.250 --> 00:16:56.540 align:middle line:84%
Then you rush back to your
perch on cypress-covered ridges

00:16:56.540 --> 00:17:00.256 align:middle line:90%
and coastal morning fog."

00:17:00.256 --> 00:17:03.707 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:17:03.707 --> 00:17:14.550 align:middle line:90%


00:17:14.550 --> 00:17:18.210 align:middle line:90%
This is a piece that--

00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:23.302 align:middle line:84%
well, it's a bunch of dreams
that I had right after 9/11.

00:17:23.302 --> 00:17:25.960 align:middle line:90%


00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:26.800 align:middle line:90%
"One.

00:17:26.800 --> 00:17:28.690 align:middle line:90%
It rained tonight.

00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:32.800 align:middle line:84%
The amber street light, the
feathery leaves of mesquite,

00:17:32.800 --> 00:17:36.260 align:middle line:90%
the soft wisps of rain.

00:17:36.260 --> 00:17:38.950 align:middle line:90%
We're talking again, he said.

00:17:38.950 --> 00:17:40.775 align:middle line:90%
Me and Sonya.

00:17:40.775 --> 00:17:45.330 align:middle line:84%
We broke up, you know,
when she laughed over 9/11.

00:17:45.330 --> 00:17:46.090 align:middle line:90%
Is that good?

00:17:46.090 --> 00:17:47.470 align:middle line:90%
I said.

00:17:47.470 --> 00:17:50.020 align:middle line:90%
Did you smooth it out?

00:17:50.020 --> 00:17:52.150 align:middle line:90%
Yeah, he said.

00:17:52.150 --> 00:17:54.430 align:middle line:90%
But I don't know.

00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:58.060 align:middle line:84%
She brings up this
love thing again.

00:17:58.060 --> 00:18:00.430 align:middle line:90%
How'd you do that, I said.

00:18:00.430 --> 00:18:02.830 align:middle line:90%
I don't know, he said.

00:18:02.830 --> 00:18:10.600 align:middle line:84%
Picturing the rain in her
hair, 5,000 miles away.

00:18:10.600 --> 00:18:11.710 align:middle line:90%
Two.

00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:16.840 align:middle line:84%
Sedona is the only landscape
of red Steve knows.

00:18:16.840 --> 00:18:22.570 align:middle line:84%
And the summer tide, the
only sea of red he knows.

00:18:22.570 --> 00:18:26.050 align:middle line:90%
He's sound asleep by nine.

00:18:26.050 --> 00:18:28.420 align:middle line:90%
Three.

00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:30.820 align:middle line:84%
Peter Jennings
sports a 5 o'clock

00:18:30.820 --> 00:18:33.940 align:middle line:84%
shadow around the
clock, these days.

00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:38.110 align:middle line:84%
His once honeyed voice
drones and cracks

00:18:38.110 --> 00:18:42.760 align:middle line:84%
over pictures of a
fairy tale gone wrong.

00:18:42.760 --> 00:18:46.570 align:middle line:90%
Bastards, Steve says.

00:18:46.570 --> 00:18:49.220 align:middle line:90%
Lucky, I said.

00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:53.140 align:middle line:90%
That you've gone this long.

00:18:53.140 --> 00:18:55.420 align:middle line:90%
Four.

00:18:55.420 --> 00:18:58.450 align:middle line:84%
Perhaps the Sikh killed
in Phoenix yesterday

00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:02.890 align:middle line:84%
means less than Wall
Street crashing today.

00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:06.100 align:middle line:90%
Just ask the women in Juarez.

00:19:06.100 --> 00:19:11.620 align:middle line:84%
Mindfulness is trivial
when collective passions

00:19:11.620 --> 00:19:14.176 align:middle line:90%
seek revenge.

00:19:14.176 --> 00:19:19.090 align:middle line:84%
The president might be tempted
to declare war, I said.

00:19:19.090 --> 00:19:22.910 align:middle line:90%
Find any excuse, I said.

00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:28.100 align:middle line:84%
You always have to be
so negative, he said.

00:19:28.100 --> 00:19:29.900 align:middle line:90%
Five.

00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:33.230 align:middle line:90%
Larry's worried about me.

00:19:33.230 --> 00:19:35.570 align:middle line:84%
Can't you just avoid
talking about it?

00:19:35.570 --> 00:19:36.140 align:middle line:90%
He said.

00:19:36.140 --> 00:19:38.840 align:middle line:90%


00:19:38.840 --> 00:19:39.750 align:middle line:90%
Avoid it?

00:19:39.750 --> 00:19:42.410 align:middle line:90%
I sighed.

00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:46.100 align:middle line:84%
Carmen snuck out of
Santiago into exile

00:19:46.100 --> 00:19:49.040 align:middle line:90%
in the middle of the night.

00:19:49.040 --> 00:19:54.110 align:middle line:84%
René slipped into El Salvador,
into the waiting arms

00:19:54.110 --> 00:19:55.280 align:middle line:90%
of Contras.

00:19:55.280 --> 00:19:58.720 align:middle line:84%
And Chaz's skeleton
is missing both hands.

00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.780 align:middle line:90%


00:20:01.780 --> 00:20:03.700 align:middle line:90%
Six.

00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:08.620 align:middle line:84%
I called Irma last
night to talk.

00:20:08.620 --> 00:20:09.940 align:middle line:90%
Do you want to meet?

00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:12.340 align:middle line:90%
She said.

00:20:12.340 --> 00:20:15.010 align:middle line:90%
The tension is familiar.

00:20:15.010 --> 00:20:20.710 align:middle line:84%
I grew up half-breed,
among fair-skinned girls.

00:20:20.710 --> 00:20:26.650 align:middle line:84%
I learned English with a
twisted tongue and a forked pen.

00:20:26.650 --> 00:20:31.810 align:middle line:84%
I was born on the border,
where folks meet in mistrust.

00:20:31.810 --> 00:20:36.040 align:middle line:90%
I traveled, secretly, to Russia.

00:20:36.040 --> 00:20:39.370 align:middle line:90%
I cannot be too careful.

00:20:39.370 --> 00:20:46.870 align:middle line:84%
Only in my dreams do I
speak freely at home.

00:20:46.870 --> 00:20:49.630 align:middle line:90%
Seven.

00:20:49.630 --> 00:20:55.180 align:middle line:84%
The first day of the
11th month is overcast.

00:20:55.180 --> 00:21:00.280 align:middle line:84%
In crisp, autumn air
and corn-blue sky,

00:21:00.280 --> 00:21:04.210 align:middle line:90%
I swaddle memories of the dead.

00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:13.060 align:middle line:84%
My heart quivers with gratitude,
swells with blessings.

00:21:13.060 --> 00:21:15.417 align:middle line:90%
I have no reason to mourn."

00:21:15.417 --> 00:21:18.940 align:middle line:90%


00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:22.356 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:21:22.356 --> 00:21:27.440 align:middle line:90%


00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:28.488 align:middle line:90%
Things get harder.

00:21:28.488 --> 00:21:31.360 align:middle line:90%


00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:38.870 align:middle line:84%
You know, the things that
I love, well I love hard.

00:21:38.870 --> 00:21:47.600 align:middle line:84%
And it's interesting to see
how some of the hardest things

00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:59.060 align:middle line:84%
to love, and to deal with are
the things that just, they

00:21:59.060 --> 00:22:02.360 align:middle line:90%
demand that you write about.

00:22:02.360 --> 00:22:05.630 align:middle line:90%
This piece is called "Lazaram."

00:22:05.630 --> 00:22:08.150 align:middle line:90%


00:22:08.150 --> 00:22:17.330 align:middle line:84%
Like Lazarus, only
well, she's a woman.

00:22:17.330 --> 00:22:18.830 align:middle line:84%
This is for all
the women out there

00:22:18.830 --> 00:22:22.460 align:middle line:84%
who have had to face
some really, really

00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:25.835 align:middle line:84%
difficult challenges and
come out the other side.

00:22:25.835 --> 00:22:29.338 align:middle line:90%


00:22:29.338 --> 00:22:31.200 align:middle line:90%
"Lazaram"

00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:34.290 align:middle line:84%
"She was barely six weeks
along when she told him

00:22:34.290 --> 00:22:37.740 align:middle line:84%
and he chased her out the
trailer into the swamp,

00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.770 align:middle line:84%
where she sloshed through
greenish-black muck, the color

00:22:40.770 --> 00:22:44.520 align:middle line:84%
of alligators she'd seen
come right up to the trailer

00:22:44.520 --> 00:22:46.680 align:middle line:90%
and snap up small dogs.

00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:50.010 align:middle line:84%
So she ran and ran,
picking up her feet as soon

00:22:50.010 --> 00:22:54.000 align:middle line:84%
as they lightened,
wishing she could fly.

00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.450 align:middle line:84%
Instead, she stumbled
over fallen branches,

00:22:57.450 --> 00:23:00.030 align:middle line:84%
through velvet curtains
of brown leaves,

00:23:00.030 --> 00:23:05.100 align:middle line:84%
through sea of darkness and
air too thick to breathe.

00:23:05.100 --> 00:23:10.230 align:middle line:84%
Wide-mouthed she gasped, and
wetness dripped down temples,

00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:14.670 align:middle line:84%
down chicken neck, down hair
stuck in long strands that

00:23:14.670 --> 00:23:18.150 align:middle line:84%
flapped against her back,
plastered with mustard

00:23:18.150 --> 00:23:22.140 align:middle line:84%
and memories of asthma
and other vises,

00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:25.500 align:middle line:84%
like his knee on her
cracking sternum.

00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:28.980 align:middle line:84%
Like his fingers around
her scrawny neck.

00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:32.190 align:middle line:84%
Like blood bubbling
in her stomach,

00:23:32.190 --> 00:23:36.210 align:middle line:84%
crawling up her throat,
and gurgling in her ears,

00:23:36.210 --> 00:23:42.240 align:middle line:84%
where Atlas stirs and
boyish shoulders broaden

00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.130 align:middle line:84%
and internal bleeding becomes
the body and blood of Christ.

00:23:48.130 --> 00:23:49.980 align:middle line:90%
Amen.

00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:52.470 align:middle line:84%
They were barely six
weeks out of the hospital

00:23:52.470 --> 00:23:54.600 align:middle line:84%
when the baby got
sick, and he threw her

00:23:54.600 --> 00:23:56.430 align:middle line:90%
out the red-floored bedroom.

00:23:56.430 --> 00:24:02.190 align:middle line:84%
And she landed, arms here, legs
there, in the tiny bedroom.

00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:07.170 align:middle line:84%
Levántate, vete a la chingada,
boomed the Red Wing boot,

00:24:07.170 --> 00:24:10.650 align:middle line:84%
as it rolled her onto the
linoleum floor kitchen,

00:24:10.650 --> 00:24:14.610 align:middle line:84%
where she finally got to her
feet and ran through the living

00:24:14.610 --> 00:24:16.290 align:middle line:90%
room.

00:24:16.290 --> 00:24:18.330 align:middle line:84%
You should go to
the Y. Maybe they

00:24:18.330 --> 00:24:21.690 align:middle line:90%
can teach you to be a mother.

00:24:21.690 --> 00:24:25.710 align:middle line:84%
Cucarachas y culebras, he
spat at the back of her head,

00:24:25.710 --> 00:24:29.520 align:middle line:84%
now whizzing out the
Arizona home, just

00:24:29.520 --> 00:24:35.160 align:middle line:84%
beyond his mother's hand
around his head, pounding,

00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:40.170 align:middle line:84%
pounding the floor of
his Adobe childhood home.

00:24:40.170 --> 00:24:42.720 align:middle line:90%


00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:45.420 align:middle line:84%
He didn't want to move to
the house on [INAUDIBLE],,

00:24:45.420 --> 00:24:48.150 align:middle line:90%
no matter how nice it was.

00:24:48.150 --> 00:24:52.680 align:middle line:84%
He was the man and
she had found it.

00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:55.160 align:middle line:90%
She had rented it.

00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:58.680 align:middle line:90%
Y él era el macho, ¿qué no?

00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:03.360 align:middle line:84%
Pues, tendrás que empacar
tú, porque yo me voy camping.

00:25:03.360 --> 00:25:06.210 align:middle line:84%
She should have
left his ass, then.

00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:09.600 align:middle line:84%
Llevarse a su hijo
y dejarlo, pero no.

00:25:09.600 --> 00:25:14.460 align:middle line:84%
Ahí va con todas sus garras,
hasta que cayó rendida en su

00:25:14.460 --> 00:25:20.220 align:middle line:84%
nueva casa, donde la
cultura de la sevillana,

00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:24.750 align:middle line:84%
que en realidad es una gitana
disfrazada de española,

00:25:24.750 --> 00:25:27.750 align:middle line:90%
lo observa todo.

00:25:27.750 --> 00:25:31.230 align:middle line:84%
Mientras duerme, lo
desviste con los ojos

00:25:31.230 --> 00:25:36.510 align:middle line:84%
y bajo el traje, descubre
llagas, supurientas que le

00:25:36.510 --> 00:25:41.250 align:middle line:90%
arden con el aire, con la luz.

00:25:41.250 --> 00:25:44.850 align:middle line:90%
Las gitanas curan con las manos.

00:25:44.850 --> 00:25:51.150 align:middle line:84%
Y con el alma cauterizan
lo malo y lo feo también.

00:25:51.150 --> 00:25:55.730 align:middle line:84%
A los 6 meses, la arrancó de la
pared y con la rodilla la hizo

00:25:55.730 --> 00:25:59.010 align:middle line:84%
ciscos, lanzándolos a
la chimenea hasta varla

00:25:59.010 --> 00:26:03.750 align:middle line:84%
achicharrar, como a tantas
mujeres del esquema por

00:26:03.750 --> 00:26:06.090 align:middle line:90%
sabelotodo.

00:26:06.090 --> 00:26:08.700 align:middle line:90%
Ande, cabrona.

00:26:08.700 --> 00:26:13.110 align:middle line:84%
Lo que no sabía, es que there's
more where she came from.

00:26:13.110 --> 00:26:15.640 align:middle line:90%


00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:19.030 align:middle line:84%
It was six weeks after
they moved into 6th Street

00:26:19.030 --> 00:26:22.210 align:middle line:84%
and he came home
smelling of the ocean,

00:26:22.210 --> 00:26:25.000 align:middle line:84%
and threw the glass of
Merlot against the wall

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:30.380 align:middle line:84%
because her cousin was
just too hard to resist.

00:26:30.380 --> 00:26:33.580 align:middle line:84%
And it was her fault for
moving them there, anyway.

00:26:33.580 --> 00:26:35.830 align:middle line:90%
So that settled it.

00:26:35.830 --> 00:26:38.080 align:middle line:90%
She was stupid.

00:26:38.080 --> 00:26:40.210 align:middle line:84%
Even if fea, hija
de la chingada.

00:26:40.210 --> 00:26:42.280 align:middle line:84%
So she threw her
into the shower, ay,

00:26:42.280 --> 00:26:46.210 align:middle line:90%
cómo caiga contra la tina.

00:26:46.210 --> 00:26:50.600 align:middle line:90%
Elbows and knees retumban.

00:26:50.600 --> 00:26:53.440 align:middle line:84%
So he turned on the hot
water to drown it out.

00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:56.500 align:middle line:84%
Para que se quite lo
negro a la cabrona.

00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:59.980 align:middle line:84%
Maybe a scalding shower
will do her good.

00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:02.920 align:middle line:90%
Make her guera, like her cousin.

00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:04.070 align:middle line:90%
Sí, ¿no?

00:27:04.070 --> 00:27:06.184 align:middle line:90%
A la otra, lichucara.

00:27:06.184 --> 00:27:08.850 align:middle line:90%


00:27:08.850 --> 00:27:13.740 align:middle line:84%
Six weeks after they moved
to Encanto, she left.

00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:17.970 align:middle line:84%
The ribs healed, the bruises
faded, the swelling down.

00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:20.700 align:middle line:84%
Gone were the thugs
against porcelain

00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:23.820 align:middle line:84%
tub, the crash of
glass against the wall,

00:27:23.820 --> 00:27:28.410 align:middle line:84%
the blow of fist into
belly, boot on ribs,

00:27:28.410 --> 00:27:32.460 align:middle line:84%
palms smacking cheekbone,
fist in eye sockets,

00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:35.700 align:middle line:90%
knuckles against lip.

00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:41.310 align:middle line:84%
Gone was the wild smell of
blood, the salt of tears,

00:27:41.310 --> 00:27:44.150 align:middle line:90%
and mocos.

00:27:44.150 --> 00:27:52.610 align:middle line:84%
Gone were memories of
fideo, first grade, Arnold.

00:27:52.610 --> 00:27:57.080 align:middle line:84%
So she took to the
sea, like a lemming.

00:27:57.080 --> 00:28:03.530 align:middle line:84%
Pero la revolución requiere
destrozar lo malo y conservar

00:28:03.530 --> 00:28:05.910 align:middle line:90%
lo bueno probado.

00:28:05.910 --> 00:28:06.410 align:middle line:90%
Lenny.

00:28:06.410 --> 00:28:09.870 align:middle line:90%


00:28:09.870 --> 00:28:15.690 align:middle line:90%
She had such silky skin.

00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:20.670 align:middle line:84%
He could pretend he was in
Persia, inside a tent of veils,

00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:28.020 align:middle line:84%
where Sherezada told her 1,001
tales, but unlike the sultan,

00:28:28.020 --> 00:28:29.970 align:middle line:90%
she forced the issue.

00:28:29.970 --> 00:28:32.340 align:middle line:90%
And she thrashed like a shark.

00:28:32.340 --> 00:28:36.810 align:middle line:84%
And that brought him back
to the brown foothills,

00:28:36.810 --> 00:28:41.220 align:middle line:84%
where the clay is black
and good for sculpting.

00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:45.370 align:middle line:84%
Back to the leather couch,
where she lay pinned inside.

00:28:45.370 --> 00:28:49.950 align:middle line:84%
Back to the passion, or
rage, he felt for her.

00:28:49.950 --> 00:28:53.640 align:middle line:84%
And that last bastion
of resistance,

00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:58.020 align:middle line:84%
the one that dared him, that
mocked him in his sleep,

00:28:58.020 --> 00:29:02.740 align:middle line:84%
awoke him in the
middle of the night.

00:29:02.740 --> 00:29:06.870 align:middle line:90%
He was being nice.

00:29:06.870 --> 00:29:10.890 align:middle line:90%
He wanted her to stay.

00:29:10.890 --> 00:29:13.240 align:middle line:84%
But there she went,
thrashing about

00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:15.630 align:middle line:84%
until he couldn't
stand it anymore.

00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:20.490 align:middle line:84%
So he flung the whiskey in her
face, and her corneas sizzled.

00:29:20.490 --> 00:29:23.820 align:middle line:90%
And she smiled.

00:29:23.820 --> 00:29:27.060 align:middle line:90%
The cleansing she needed.

00:29:27.060 --> 00:29:34.330 align:middle line:84%
Burned through layer upon
layer of inertia, of paralysis.

00:29:34.330 --> 00:29:34.830 align:middle line:90%
Burned.

00:29:34.830 --> 00:29:37.660 align:middle line:90%


00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:44.260 align:middle line:84%
On the sixth day, God
said let us make man

00:29:44.260 --> 00:29:48.360 align:middle line:90%
in our image and likeness.

00:29:48.360 --> 00:29:56.728 align:middle line:84%
And when she rose, he
saw that she was good."

00:29:56.728 --> 00:29:57.228 align:middle line:90%
Whew.

00:29:57.228 --> 00:29:58.692 align:middle line:90%
That one's hard to read.

00:29:58.692 --> 00:30:02.108 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:30:02.108 --> 00:30:12.880 align:middle line:90%


00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:16.570 align:middle line:84%
The next-- I've got
a few poems here

00:30:16.570 --> 00:30:21.880 align:middle line:84%
that I've written
as a collection,

00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:28.560 align:middle line:84%
as part of the collection
on border issues.

00:30:28.560 --> 00:30:33.180 align:middle line:84%
And specifically the
migration issues.

00:30:33.180 --> 00:30:35.290 align:middle line:90%
This one is called "For Darío."

00:30:35.290 --> 00:30:40.770 align:middle line:84%
And this was the
first documented case,

00:30:40.770 --> 00:30:43.470 align:middle line:84%
this gentleman here,
was the first documented

00:30:43.470 --> 00:30:50.140 align:middle line:84%
case of a border patrol
agent shooting someone

00:30:50.140 --> 00:30:54.790 align:middle line:90%
who threw a rock at him.

00:30:54.790 --> 00:30:57.226 align:middle line:90%
"For Darío."

00:30:57.226 --> 00:31:04.030 align:middle line:84%
"He came from a long line
of ilusos, provincial folk,

00:31:04.030 --> 00:31:07.600 align:middle line:90%
unsophisticated, unsuspecting.

00:31:07.600 --> 00:31:12.220 align:middle line:84%
Never expecting to
be shot in the back

00:31:12.220 --> 00:31:18.910 align:middle line:84%
in the middle of the night,
by his own brother, or primo,

00:31:18.910 --> 00:31:21.380 align:middle line:90%
or father.

00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:26.290 align:middle line:84%
I forget whose crosshairs
he walked into.

00:31:26.290 --> 00:31:31.030 align:middle line:84%
Who just followed
orders that night.

00:31:31.030 --> 00:31:36.670 align:middle line:84%
Whose heart exploded
like a watermelon

00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:38.350 align:middle line:90%
falling from the truck."

00:31:38.350 --> 00:31:41.380 align:middle line:90%


00:31:41.380 --> 00:31:43.500 align:middle line:84%
This next one is
called "Covenants".

00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:49.770 align:middle line:90%


00:31:49.770 --> 00:31:52.020 align:middle line:90%
And it also has another angle.

00:31:52.020 --> 00:31:54.990 align:middle line:90%
And I've gone back and forth.

00:31:54.990 --> 00:32:00.310 align:middle line:84%
Accomplices,
covenants, agreements,

00:32:00.310 --> 00:32:03.297 align:middle line:90%
parties to contracts.

00:32:03.297 --> 00:32:05.940 align:middle line:90%
Accomplices, yeah.

00:32:05.940 --> 00:32:07.830 align:middle line:90%
"Covenants"

00:32:07.830 --> 00:32:12.780 align:middle line:84%
"His grandfathers did
your work in México.

00:32:12.780 --> 00:32:19.470 align:middle line:84%
In World War II, you had them
remove my fathers from Tíjuana,

00:32:19.470 --> 00:32:21.780 align:middle line:90%
from Mexicali, from San Luis.

00:32:21.780 --> 00:32:25.140 align:middle line:84%
You had them piled
into cattle trucks.

00:32:25.140 --> 00:32:30.510 align:middle line:84%
Interned in Mexico City, where
my father found his father

00:32:30.510 --> 00:32:33.780 align:middle line:84%
in some colonia
where men with names

00:32:33.780 --> 00:32:40.108 align:middle line:84%
like Katsuyama and Tenaca,
slept like sardines on dirt,

00:32:40.108 --> 00:32:40.650 align:middle line:90%
packed tight.

00:32:40.650 --> 00:32:43.320 align:middle line:90%


00:32:43.320 --> 00:32:48.720 align:middle line:84%
After your war, Miguel
Alemán baptized his

00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:54.330 align:middle line:84%
grandfather's, Bracero,
and sent them to you,

00:32:54.330 --> 00:32:58.470 align:middle line:84%
to harvest your lettuce,
your citrus, your apples,

00:32:58.470 --> 00:33:02.440 align:middle line:90%
wherever you need.

00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:12.720 align:middle line:84%
These days, the odds are still
the same in desert black jack.

00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:19.290 align:middle line:84%
Where you lie in wait under
the cover of darkness,

00:33:19.290 --> 00:33:23.258 align:middle line:90%
under the color of the law.

00:33:23.258 --> 00:33:26.600 align:middle line:90%
Accomplices."

00:33:26.600 --> 00:33:28.130 align:middle line:90%
"Family Album."

00:33:28.130 --> 00:33:30.170 align:middle line:84%
This next piece, I
don't know if you guys

00:33:30.170 --> 00:33:33.200 align:middle line:90%
remember Scott Stanley.

00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:34.950 align:middle line:90%
He was here for a while.

00:33:34.950 --> 00:33:38.210 align:middle line:84%
And he was doing a project with
the Penal County attorney's

00:33:38.210 --> 00:33:39.110 align:middle line:90%
office.

00:33:39.110 --> 00:33:42.950 align:middle line:90%
And he really fought, remember?

00:33:42.950 --> 00:33:46.085 align:middle line:84%
Long and hard to get those
photographs released.

00:33:46.085 --> 00:33:48.740 align:middle line:90%


00:33:48.740 --> 00:33:53.240 align:middle line:84%
Anyway, this is
called "Family Album."

00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:57.320 align:middle line:84%
"He studies pictures
of [INAUDIBLE]..

00:33:57.320 --> 00:34:01.730 align:middle line:84%
Round obsidian
holes on his back.

00:34:01.730 --> 00:34:05.190 align:middle line:90%
Opaque film over his eyes.

00:34:05.190 --> 00:34:09.290 align:middle line:84%
Thick, raised marks
about his neck.

00:34:09.290 --> 00:34:12.874 align:middle line:84%
The loose pile of gray
that is now his face.

00:34:12.874 --> 00:34:15.659 align:middle line:90%


00:34:15.659 --> 00:34:20.580 align:middle line:84%
He studies pictures of
Rosaura, purplish pools

00:34:20.580 --> 00:34:23.040 align:middle line:90%
around her breasts.

00:34:23.040 --> 00:34:26.909 align:middle line:84%
Bite and scratch
marks on her sides.

00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:30.750 align:middle line:90%
Inner thighs, black and blue.

00:34:30.750 --> 00:34:37.710 align:middle line:84%
Nails, once manicured,
now muddy brown.

00:34:37.710 --> 00:34:42.654 align:middle line:84%
Perhaps the man would
want to look at these.

00:34:42.654 --> 00:34:47.100 align:middle line:84%
These photos, of my
mother, at the border

00:34:47.100 --> 00:34:50.219 align:middle line:84%
crossing station
in the 56 Bel Air.

00:34:50.219 --> 00:34:56.400 align:middle line:84%
She'd been across the line all
day, helping Grandma, all day.

00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:02.370 align:middle line:84%
Starched, khaki green
official makes a face,

00:35:02.370 --> 00:35:07.140 align:middle line:84%
holds his breath,
waves her through.

00:35:07.140 --> 00:35:09.795 align:middle line:90%
Would he want to look at these?

00:35:09.795 --> 00:35:11.700 align:middle line:90%
These pictures?

00:35:11.700 --> 00:35:15.615 align:middle line:84%
Of indignities dripping
off her face, like spit?

00:35:15.615 --> 00:35:18.510 align:middle line:90%


00:35:18.510 --> 00:35:21.380 align:middle line:90%
How about these?

00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:24.950 align:middle line:84%
These photos of my father,
in the driver's seat.

00:35:24.950 --> 00:35:27.530 align:middle line:84%
White knuckles on
the steering wheel.

00:35:27.530 --> 00:35:35.570 align:middle line:84%
Stoicism and ulcered gut, he
stares straight ahead, frozen,

00:35:35.570 --> 00:35:39.230 align:middle line:90%
like on his green card.

00:35:39.230 --> 00:35:41.420 align:middle line:90%
How about this picture?

00:35:41.420 --> 00:35:46.100 align:middle line:84%
Of a samurai heart,
ribboned with razor wire?"

00:35:46.100 --> 00:35:51.655 align:middle line:90%


00:35:51.655 --> 00:35:52.155 align:middle line:90%
Scott.

00:35:52.155 --> 00:35:55.322 align:middle line:84%
I wonder what he's
doing these days.

00:35:55.322 --> 00:35:56.286 align:middle line:90%
Scott Stanley.

00:35:56.286 --> 00:36:00.170 align:middle line:90%


00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:05.670 align:middle line:84%
This war that's going on
in the border is one thing,

00:36:05.670 --> 00:36:09.630 align:middle line:84%
but then there's another
war that still goes on.

00:36:09.630 --> 00:36:12.570 align:middle line:84%
That's the war on
drugs that I lost

00:36:12.570 --> 00:36:18.300 align:middle line:84%
so many friends,
schoolmates, and kids

00:36:18.300 --> 00:36:21.150 align:middle line:90%
that I went to school with.

00:36:21.150 --> 00:36:25.140 align:middle line:84%
This first one is
called "For Raúl".

00:36:25.140 --> 00:36:28.320 align:middle line:90%


00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:32.670 align:middle line:84%
"It happens on a work
day, early afternoon,

00:36:32.670 --> 00:36:36.960 align:middle line:84%
as his mother offers Rosario
after Rosario at church,

00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:40.320 align:middle line:84%
and mangy dogs amble
down the sidewalk

00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:43.440 align:middle line:90%
in front of the Rosa's cafe.

00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:47.550 align:middle line:84%
Two scrawny men sit on
the piss-stained floor

00:36:47.550 --> 00:36:52.620 align:middle line:84%
of the dark apartment, tied-off
above the elbow, coaxing

00:36:52.620 --> 00:36:56.310 align:middle line:90%
dark veins.

00:36:56.310 --> 00:37:02.190 align:middle line:84%
In the Lagoon, a gray
whale exhales, sputters,

00:37:02.190 --> 00:37:05.280 align:middle line:90%
and disappears.

00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:08.760 align:middle line:84%
And it happens like this,
while a swamp cooler

00:37:08.760 --> 00:37:12.360 align:middle line:84%
hums, that a red whale
rises from the deep,

00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:16.450 align:middle line:84%
breaks the surface,
and quietly swallows.

00:37:16.450 --> 00:37:18.990 align:middle line:90%


00:37:18.990 --> 00:37:23.910 align:middle line:84%
In the stillness flies
land, deposit their young

00:37:23.910 --> 00:37:25.800 align:middle line:90%
on his face.

00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:28.930 align:middle line:84%
Mice scurry over
potato chip crumbs.

00:37:28.930 --> 00:37:31.890 align:middle line:90%
And it cannot be undone.

00:37:31.890 --> 00:37:35.400 align:middle line:84%
Not the foam oozing
from his mouth.

00:37:35.400 --> 00:37:38.100 align:middle line:84%
Not the sirens wailing
in the background.

00:37:38.100 --> 00:37:41.550 align:middle line:84%
Not his mother's fist
pounding on his chest.

00:37:41.550 --> 00:37:50.130 align:middle line:84%
Because, finally, Raúl is
warm, floating in balmy waters,

00:37:50.130 --> 00:37:52.530 align:middle line:90%
full of whales giving birth."

00:37:52.530 --> 00:37:56.120 align:middle line:90%


00:37:56.120 --> 00:37:58.020 align:middle line:90%
Heroin was a horrible thing.

00:37:58.020 --> 00:38:00.830 align:middle line:84%
And I understand that
it's making this comeback.

00:38:00.830 --> 00:38:05.390 align:middle line:90%


00:38:05.390 --> 00:38:08.280 align:middle line:90%
Horrible stuff.

00:38:08.280 --> 00:38:08.780 align:middle line:90%
"Para Juan".

00:38:08.780 --> 00:38:12.690 align:middle line:90%


00:38:12.690 --> 00:38:15.600 align:middle line:90%
"Pequeñito.

00:38:15.600 --> 00:38:19.410 align:middle line:84%
En calzoncitos blancos
y capa voladora,

00:38:19.410 --> 00:38:21.810 align:middle line:84%
sobre mosaico
helado tus piecitos

00:38:21.810 --> 00:38:24.450 align:middle line:90%
descalzos corren por la casa.

00:38:24.450 --> 00:38:30.330 align:middle line:84%
Tu cuerpecito de Sívori,
panzita saltadita.

00:38:30.330 --> 00:38:36.900 align:middle line:84%
Morenita tu piel finita, sedosa,
como el champuro que hacía tu

00:38:36.900 --> 00:38:38.820 align:middle line:90%
madre.

00:38:38.820 --> 00:38:43.020 align:middle line:84%
Tus manitas, juntitas
bajo el pescuecito,

00:38:43.020 --> 00:38:48.450 align:middle line:84%
aferradas de una toalla
blanca de algodón.

00:38:48.450 --> 00:38:50.360 align:middle line:90%
Hoy.

00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:53.310 align:middle line:90%
Hoy te encontramos.

00:38:53.310 --> 00:38:58.830 align:middle line:84%
Pantalones arrugados,
camisa planchada,

00:38:58.830 --> 00:39:05.020 align:middle line:84%
pies llenos de callos,
cansados de correr.

00:39:05.020 --> 00:39:09.870 align:middle line:84%
Hoy sacaste tu capa
por última vez,

00:39:09.870 --> 00:39:14.070 align:middle line:84%
en una toalla de
algodón papá lo dio,

00:39:14.070 --> 00:39:20.010 align:middle line:84%
se convirtió en un par de
alas para ti, súper niño.

00:39:20.010 --> 00:39:23.730 align:middle line:90%
Para ti, precioso y adorado.

00:39:23.730 --> 00:39:26.400 align:middle line:90%
Para ti, querido Juan."

00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.350 align:middle line:90%


00:39:31.350 --> 00:39:32.670 align:middle line:90%
OK.

00:39:32.670 --> 00:39:34.320 align:middle line:90%
All right.

00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:35.850 align:middle line:90%
Enough drug things.

00:39:35.850 --> 00:39:39.150 align:middle line:90%


00:39:39.150 --> 00:39:40.740 align:middle line:90%
I grew up among that stuff.

00:39:40.740 --> 00:39:42.011 align:middle line:90%
It's horrible.

00:39:42.011 --> 00:39:44.220 align:middle line:90%
Ay.

00:39:44.220 --> 00:39:49.005 align:middle line:84%
I was one of a handful of
people in my elementary,

00:39:49.005 --> 00:39:51.840 align:middle line:84%
you know, my little
elementary graduating class.

00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:57.270 align:middle line:84%
A handful, one of a handful
of kids who got out of there,

00:39:57.270 --> 00:40:03.540 align:middle line:84%
and didn't go to jail or
die of drug overdoses.

00:40:03.540 --> 00:40:08.780 align:middle line:84%
The next couple
of poems, and I--

00:40:08.780 --> 00:40:13.410 align:middle line:84%
I think I will end
with these, are

00:40:13.410 --> 00:40:16.440 align:middle line:90%
a couple of poems to my family.

00:40:16.440 --> 00:40:18.990 align:middle line:90%


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This one I dedicate to my son.

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"Saint George".

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"Victorious horse spirit.

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Brave, strong.

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Diacletion forces
harness Spanish stallion

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into lowely milk horse.

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Full gallops and
elegant high steps,

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into tired clip-clops
in the dark.

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Victor's spirit, I wish for you.

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For you, no blinders.

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No hypnotic trot.

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No walk through dawn, asleep.

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For you, I wish long, wild
mane floating in the wind.

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For your, wings on thick
and calloused hooves.

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For you, heart of Richard,
courageous and bold.

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For you, showers of grace
and dragons at your feet.

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For you, miracle worker.

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For you, Saint George.

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For you, my son.

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For you."

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[APPLAUSE]

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That is such a mama's
poem, isn't it?

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And this last piece
that I'm going to read,

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it's for my mom,
who's in the audience.

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"Tortillera".

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"With her right hand
cocked, she scoops a handful

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of masa, wet, gritty, white
Masa, speckled black and brown,

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no matter how white the corn.

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Prietitos swirl in Spanish
blood like cobalt-blue ribbons

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round yellow
Moroccan sunflowers.

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Her hands, the
color of wet Earth,

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dig out fist-sized balls,
the size of her heart.

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And with both hands,
and drums in her head,

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she rolls and cups,
and rolls and cups,

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and rolls, and rolls,
until palmaditas flatten.

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Flatten wider and wider
disks, from the inside out,

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this India's Malinche heart,
until her copper fingertips,

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her copper fingertips hold her
tortillas, and her lifeline,

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hanging in the wind."

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Thank you very much.

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[APPLAUSE]

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