I thought I would start with a poem for Rosmarie Waldrop,
because she just turned 80.
And she was here I think during my last year
that I was in Tucson.
"Nocturnal Amulet for Rosmarie Waldrop."
And beginning with the quotation from Rosmarie.
"Words that sleep in the body all night and in the daytime
come out and touch you, like a warm hand."
"Nocturnal words rove, divert from daily script.
Wolf and wild cat assurances, molt moonlit words born feral.
Others to avoid predation.
Adjust opening and closing operas.
As a flower adapts phenology toward pollinators,
sage remarks demonstrate chromatic response.
Ermine or velvet crust names exhibit varying color.
Upper and lowercase utterances graduating in tone.
Light, belly, darker, back, counter-shading paints
out shadows, making solid words flat while counter-illumination
employs light.
Words inhabiting body by night flare.
Prolonged, luminescent in the visible now."