WEBVTT

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Good evening, everyone.

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I'm Nicole Sealey.

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I'm a poet and the
executive director

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at Cave Canem Foundation.

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I'm happy to be here with
the Poetry Coalition.

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Many poets believe that man
knows absolutely nothing--

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that nothing in this world
makes any kind of sense.

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I believe this to be true,
insofar as it excludes poet

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Rita Dove, [LAUGHTER] who I
am convinced knows absolutely

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every single thing--

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Like how, "in the
ocean, the silence moves

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and moves"; like
how, "there's a way

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to enter a field empty-handed,
your shoulder behind you,

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and air tightening"; like how,
"if you've got a heart at all,

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someday it will kill
you"; or like how,

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"what shines is a thought
which has lost its way.

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Helpless, it hangs and
shivers like a veil.

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So much for despair."

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The restraint with
which Dove delivers

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these truths are genius--

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matter-of-fact and genius.

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Of course, in the ocean the
silence moves and moves.

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Of course.

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Of course, if you've
got a heart at all

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someday it will kill you.

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Of course.

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But there are only
a few people who

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know these truths to
even describe them.

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And I would argue,
only one who can

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describe these truths in these
most appropriate of ways.

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Rita Dove is that one.

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I am, we are, so thankful for
your work, for your knowing.

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We are so thankful for you.

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It is my great honor,
my great pleasure,

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to introduce the Rita Dove.

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I can literally die now.

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[LAUGHTER]

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[APPLAUSE]