WEBVTT

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A long time ago, I
was commissioned,

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and I never quite understood
why, to write about locksmiths.

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And so I dutifully went
off and did research

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in the arcane world
of locksmithery.

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And that held my attention
for a very short time.

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[LAUGHTER]

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And I then moved on to thinking
that, well, a lock and a key,

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there are similarities here
with the hidden machinery

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of the poem that can be
unlocked by a reader.

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And that was interesting
for a couple of minutes.

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[LAUGHTER]

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And then I just went
off and wrote a poem.

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But the poem that I did
write, carries a little bit

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of those previous
research endeavors.

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It's called "Wedding the
Locksmiths Daughter".

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The slow, grained slide to
embed the blade of the key

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as a sheathing.

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A gliding on graphite,
pushing inside

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to find the ribs of the lock.

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Sunk home, the true key
slots to its matrix, geared,

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tight-fitting, they turn
together shooting the spring

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lock, throwing the boat.

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Dactyls, iambics,
the clinch of words.

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The hidden couplings
in the cased machine.

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A chime of sound on sound.

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The way the sung note
snibs on meaning and holds.

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The lines engage and marry now,
their bells are keeping time.

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The church doors close
and open underground.

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