WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.650 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.650 --> 00:00:04.980 align:middle line:84% And then this last poem, "Autochthonic Song". 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:07.660 align:middle line:84% There's a reference here, I don't know if any of you 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:12.600 align:middle line:84% are familiar with this, of this rather odd vision that Columbus 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:18.300 align:middle line:84% had on one of his later journeys off the coast of South America. 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:23.310 align:middle line:84% He's had this kind of vision of the Earth rising 00:00:23.310 --> 00:00:26.450 align:middle line:90% in the distance like a breast. 00:00:26.450 --> 00:00:28.830 align:middle line:84% And so there's a reference to that in here. 00:00:28.830 --> 00:00:31.380 align:middle line:90% "Autochthonic Song". 00:00:31.380 --> 00:00:33.840 align:middle line:84% "We knew the buffalo were dangerous, but most 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.990 align:middle line:84% of the time, as we drifted among them, longing 00:00:36.990 --> 00:00:41.040 align:middle line:84% to touch the bright curls of the spring calves, 00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:43.530 align:middle line:84% their coats the color of new pennies, 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:46.350 align:middle line:84% they lowered their heads to the wild grasses 00:00:46.350 --> 00:00:50.190 align:middle line:84% and shied away only when we drew too near. 00:00:50.190 --> 00:00:54.750 align:middle line:84% For months we moved among them, circling the sweet expressions 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:58.020 align:middle line:84% of the calves as they kept circling that hill that 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:00.720 align:middle line:84% seemed to zigger off, pointed at the summit 00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:06.210 align:middle line:84% like that odd vision of Columbus off the coast of South America. 00:01:06.210 --> 00:01:08.160 align:middle line:84% The Earth was round and something 00:01:08.160 --> 00:01:11.580 align:middle line:84% rising in the distance like a breast, who 00:01:11.580 --> 00:01:15.900 align:middle line:84% thought he had reached the beginning of all creation, 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:19.080 align:middle line:90% the nipple of time and space. 00:01:19.080 --> 00:01:23.370 align:middle line:84% The hill glittered with mica, plates the size and breadth 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:27.390 align:middle line:84% of a human hand scattered over its flanks. 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:30.510 align:middle line:84% We tried many times to bevel by hand 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:35.340 align:middle line:84% the stones into a clear plane, an eyeglass through which we 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:36.930 align:middle line:90% can view the world. 00:01:36.930 --> 00:01:40.770 align:middle line:84% But the crystals only split along the cleavage, 00:01:40.770 --> 00:01:43.620 align:middle line:84% until running among that shaggy tribe, 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:46.560 align:middle line:84% we forgot our mothers, our fathers, 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:49.140 align:middle line:84% as if running among that remnant, 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:53.850 align:middle line:84% we can save some part of ourselves from extinction. 00:01:53.850 --> 00:01:57.960 align:middle line:84% Crazy with liberty, I veered toward a calf, 00:01:57.960 --> 00:02:02.520 align:middle line:84% drew so close that I could never remember if I had touched it 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:03.330 align:middle line:90% or not. 00:02:03.330 --> 00:02:09.060 align:middle line:84% But the mother, her malevolence, one movement with her desire 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:13.410 align:middle line:84% to protect, wield an alarm, and as she did so, 00:02:13.410 --> 00:02:15.540 align:middle line:90% the herd wield with her. 00:02:15.540 --> 00:02:18.900 align:middle line:84% As a flock of sparrows will turn in the sky 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:24.060 align:middle line:84% to enfold a red-tailed hawk, a current of rippling 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:28.980 align:middle line:84% fear or anger, the buffalo turn to charge us. 00:02:28.980 --> 00:02:33.690 align:middle line:84% We ran, the breath scattering out of our child lungs, 00:02:33.690 --> 00:02:36.990 align:middle line:84% barely able to keep ahead of that rhythm 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:41.220 align:middle line:84% that had always seemed like that of a choppy, rocking horse, 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:45.810 align:middle line:84% but which now seemed as fluid as a flash flood churning down 00:02:45.810 --> 00:02:47.400 align:middle line:90% an arroyo. 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:51.570 align:middle line:84% We ran toward the hill, hoping the slope would save us 00:02:51.570 --> 00:02:56.370 align:middle line:84% by wearing them down, the climb exhaust their fury. 00:02:56.370 --> 00:02:59.730 align:middle line:84% And it did, but so slowly that by the time 00:02:59.730 --> 00:03:04.230 align:middle line:84% the buffalo stopped, milling about halfway up, 00:03:04.230 --> 00:03:06.660 align:middle line:90% we were ourselves stampeded. 00:03:06.660 --> 00:03:10.680 align:middle line:84% Seized by a panic so ancient it kept our ribs 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:14.910 align:middle line:84% splintering in our chests all the way up the hill, 00:03:14.910 --> 00:03:19.890 align:middle line:84% until we crammed ourselves into the tiny cave and its summit, 00:03:19.890 --> 00:03:22.800 align:middle line:84% clinging to ourselves among the black widow 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:27.330 align:middle line:84% spiders, the sloppy cobwebs of fear. 00:03:27.330 --> 00:03:30.180 align:middle line:84% And it was only then that I understood. 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:35.310 align:middle line:84% The Earth is not our mother, but a wild music beyond the self." 00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:37.190 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:03:37.190 --> 00:03:42.000 align:middle line:90%