WEBVTT

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OK, so I'm going to
read a couple of poems

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because it happens to be
that my older son, Elijah, is

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a student at this
fine institution.

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So I'm going to read a couple
of poems that intersect

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in interesting ways with him.

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One is-- I'll start
with this one.

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The title of this poem is 5.12,
which is a rock climbing term.

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It is-- rock climbing
routes, their difficulty

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is measured by numbers.

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And a 5.12 is kind of a hard
climb, so this is called 5.12.

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"Hexes, hooks, nuts, full
rack of cams, quick draws,

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quick links, with
what sustaining

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clanks they fill
the pack, how they

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heft in the hand with
metallic assurance.

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We palm-fondle.

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We fetish with thumbs.

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We toothbrush off
the grains of sand.

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We love the gear as we love God,
as we love any salvation fable,

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believing our love hangs
from the rope of our peril.

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Thus, do we sling to an anchor.

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Thus, smear foot rubber to rock
as if every heel hook and hand

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jam were of faith our testament.

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But as any penitent
knows, it's never

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grace that calls us to
ascend but gravity's

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sweet and awful hazard.

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If we weren't in it for
the fall, we'd walk."

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