WEBVTT

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This is from Ghassan
Zaqtan's Straw Bird.

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One day I'll feel
like a rock star

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and ask the audience
for requests--

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[LAUGHTER]

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--but not today.

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[LAUGHTER]

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"Wolves."

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"The birds' departure
from his heart

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leaves the plains white,
where the story is white,

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and sleep is white, and
silence is the callers icon.

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A laugh of sand will sprout
when the door is opened

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from fear's angle, a hymn
for the grand winter,

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and the voices of
those who left long ago

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will jump like grasshoppers
when the door is opened.

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Wait, wait a moment
for us to dry a moment.

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There's in our trace a reckless
lament and a ceramic bird--

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and watch for the
necklaces on the ceiling.

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Why don't you turn the lights
on or be happy with sitting

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and watch for the
fruits on the ground.

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Your voice in my room
exhausts the silence--

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the silence of pots,
the silence of shelves,

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the silence of writing,
the silence of lighting,

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and the silence of
survival, which I

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have been gathering for years
with the patience of one

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who's alone with the
garden in summer,

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or one who retrieves absence.

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The absence that never stops."

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