WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.540 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:02.850 align:middle line:84% This is another prose poem, and it's 00:00:02.850 --> 00:00:06.750 align:middle line:84% about a dream I had in which antidepressants 00:00:06.750 --> 00:00:11.250 align:middle line:84% came in a hard case with little horses, live horses. 00:00:11.250 --> 00:00:14.770 align:middle line:90% 00:00:14.770 --> 00:00:18.790 align:middle line:84% "The crowds cheered as Gloom galloped away." 00:00:18.790 --> 00:00:22.000 align:middle line:84% "Everyone was happier, but where did the sadness go? 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:23.410 align:middle line:90% People wanted to know. 00:00:23.410 --> 00:00:26.440 align:middle line:84% They didn't want it collecting in their elbows or knees then 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.120 align:middle line:90% popping up later. 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:31.120 align:middle line:84% The girl who thought of the ponies made a lot of money. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.360 align:middle line:84% Now a month supply of pills came in a hard blue case 00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:35.470 align:middle line:90% with a handle. 00:00:35.470 --> 00:00:39.490 align:middle line:84% You opened it and found the usual vial plus six tiny ponies 00:00:39.490 --> 00:00:42.040 align:middle line:84% of assorted shapes and sizes softly 00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:44.890 align:middle line:90% breathing in the styrofoam. 00:00:44.890 --> 00:00:47.680 align:middle line:84% Often, they had to be pried out and would wobble a little 00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:49.720 align:middle line:90% when first put on the ground. 00:00:49.720 --> 00:00:52.060 align:middle line:84% In the beginning, the children tried to play with them, 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:53.680 align:middle line:84% but the sharp little hooves nicked 00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:55.660 align:middle line:84% their fingers and the ponies refused 00:00:55.660 --> 00:00:58.060 align:middle line:90% to jump over pencil hurdles. 00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:00.970 align:middle line:84% So the children stopped feeding them sugar water and the ponies 00:01:00.970 --> 00:01:03.940 align:middle line:84% were left to break their legs on the gardens gravel paths 00:01:03.940 --> 00:01:06.280 align:middle line:90% or drown in the gutters. 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:08.230 align:middle line:84% On the first day of the month, rats 00:01:08.230 --> 00:01:12.160 align:middle line:84% gathered on doorsteps and spat out only the bitter manes. 00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:14.770 align:middle line:84% Many a pony's last sight was a bounding squirrel 00:01:14.770 --> 00:01:18.670 align:middle line:84% with its tail hovering over its head like a halo. 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:21.100 align:middle line:84% Behind the movie theater, the hardier ponies 00:01:21.100 --> 00:01:23.530 align:middle line:84% gathered in packs amongst the cigarette butt's, 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:26.710 align:middle line:84% getting their hooves stuck in wads of gum. 00:01:26.710 --> 00:01:28.540 align:middle line:84% They lined the hills at funerals, 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:31.360 align:middle line:84% huddled under folding chairs at weddings. 00:01:31.360 --> 00:01:33.820 align:middle line:84% It became a matter of pride if one of your ponies 00:01:33.820 --> 00:01:35.920 align:middle line:90% proved unusually sturdy. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.810 align:middle line:84% People would smile and say, this would 00:01:37.810 --> 00:01:41.140 align:middle line:84% have been an awful month for me, pointing to the glossy Palomino 00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:44.440 align:middle line:84% trotting energetically around their ankles. 00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:46.750 align:middle line:84% Eventually, the ponies were no longer needed. 00:01:46.750 --> 00:01:48.910 align:middle line:84% People who had learned to imagine their sadness 00:01:48.910 --> 00:01:50.020 align:middle line:90% trotting away. 00:01:50.020 --> 00:01:52.270 align:middle line:84% And when they wanted something more tangible, 00:01:52.270 --> 00:01:54.160 align:middle line:84% they could always go to the racetrack 00:01:54.160 --> 00:01:57.100 align:middle line:84% and study the larger horses faces. 00:01:57.100 --> 00:02:00.520 align:middle line:84% Gloom, number 341, with those big black eyes 00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:03.150 align:middle line:90% was almost sure to win."