WEBVTT

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And as we're all in
the Poetry Center--

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I don't write about
other poets, but this

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is one that involves the great
Scots poet, Hugh MacDiarmid,

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who I have enormous regard for.

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I never met him,
which is probably

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just as well, because this
poem would have offended him.

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He was known for
many things, but not

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for his sense of humor
or his easy sensuality.

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In this poem, I imagine at that
very meeting, which both of us

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would have found excruciating.

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[LAUGHTER]

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"The Tweed."

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Giving a back rub
to Hugh MacDiarmid.

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I felt through the
tweed so much tension

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in that determined neck,
those little bony shoulders,

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that when it was released, he
simply stood up and fell over.

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[LAUGHTER]

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