WEBVTT

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And I'm going to
read a few pieces,

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just two poems from a different
anthology of Raúl Zurita's that

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I edited and translated
called The Country Planks.

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And these poems are
called "Auschwitz."

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It was a sunny, beautiful
morning in Auschwitz

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and you said to me, I
can't believe I'm here

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with the boy of my dreams.

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Pinch me so I can
know it's real.

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Yes, do it my love.

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We can see the crematorium
with its enormous chimney,

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and I replied these
are the last minutes.

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And you said, how nice it is
to die with the one you love.

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Oh yes, you are love.

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The nearby station
had a funereal air,

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and at the information
desk they told me

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we could pay the entrance
fee with the credit card.

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The goddamn economy, I
said to my girl, I'm broke.

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The wind began to
whip up our ashes

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and we floated over
our red brick house.

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We were born in America.

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Invisible cordilleras now
covered the final dawn.

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Auschwitz.

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The train to the
camps wobbled heavily,

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and through the
cracks of the wagon,

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we could see burning countries
and clouds of ash moving off

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in the wind.

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I asked my girl If she didn't
think this had a familiar air

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and she responded, oh Yes.

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Our ashes will mix together,
like in the bridges

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of Madison County.

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And it will be so
beautiful, love.

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The porter said to me,
you've got problems.

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I then looked at the people in
the train car and asked them,

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do I have problems?

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Do I perhaps have the face
of a guy with problems?

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We stopped in front
of an old power plant

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and took off our clothes, then
we covered a devastated city

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with our bodies.

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The train arrived at Auschwitz
at dawn, a river of ashes

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now across the bridges.

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Win or lose, I said to my girl.

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These are the rules
here in America.

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Auschwitz.

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Auschwitz, the ticket inspector
shouted, sounding the whistle.

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Outside, it was bitter
cold and my girl

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was asking me questions.

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At the exit there
was a hot dog stand

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called Jewish dog, soup
shops and long lines

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of people waiting their turn.

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The gas chamber was a house
with showers and walls painted

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the color of raspberries.

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Love, my girl explained,
as she stared at it,

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but that's my mother's bedroom.

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The bed was already
made and we quickly

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and furiously made love in
front of the Angels of Death.

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Afterwards we went into
the crematorium section.

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You were still able
to tell me love

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is a many splendored thing.

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