Good evening, everyone.
I'm Nicole Sealey.
I'm a poet and the executive director
at Cave Canem Foundation.
I'm happy to be here with the Poetry Coalition.
Many poets believe that man knows absolutely nothing--
that nothing in this world makes any kind of sense.
I believe this to be true, insofar as it excludes poet
Rita Dove, [LAUGHTER] who I am convinced knows absolutely
every single thing--
Like how, "in the ocean, the silence moves
and moves"; like how, "there's a way
to enter a field empty-handed, your shoulder behind you,
and air tightening"; like how, "if you've got a heart at all,
someday it will kill you"; or like how,
"what shines is a thought which has lost its way.
Helpless, it hangs and shivers like a veil.
So much for despair."
The restraint with which Dove delivers
these truths are genius--
matter-of-fact and genius.
Of course, in the ocean the silence moves and moves.
Of course.
Of course, if you've got a heart at all
someday it will kill you.
Of course.
But there are only a few people who
know these truths to even describe them.
And I would argue, only one who can
describe these truths in these most appropriate of ways.
Rita Dove is that one.
I am, we are, so thankful for your work, for your knowing.
We are so thankful for you.
It is my great honor, my great pleasure,
to introduce the Rita Dove.
I can literally die now.
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]