WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.860 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:02.880 align:middle line:90% It's funny. 00:00:02.880 --> 00:00:04.690 align:middle line:90% Angel was talking about form. 00:00:04.690 --> 00:00:08.220 align:middle line:84% So when I talk to my students about form, 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:11.160 align:middle line:84% it's sometimes, if you have something 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:17.250 align:middle line:84% you want to write about that is emotionally prohibitive 00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:20.160 align:middle line:84% or something and you grasp on to a form 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.430 align:middle line:84% and you find yourself paying attention to the form, 00:00:23.430 --> 00:00:28.320 align:middle line:84% it takes your mind away from a lot of the narrative. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:29.250 align:middle line:90% You're counting. 00:00:29.250 --> 00:00:30.090 align:middle line:90% You're doing things. 00:00:30.090 --> 00:00:30.900 align:middle line:90% You're rhyming. 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:34.270 align:middle line:84% And then you're kind of surprised by what comes up. 00:00:34.270 --> 00:00:41.190 align:middle line:84% So this is it's a sestina without the bottom three lines. 00:00:41.190 --> 00:00:42.960 align:middle line:84% I love being able to talk to audiences. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.490 align:middle line:84% Most of the time, I'll say something, like, 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:45.240 align:middle line:90% what's a sestina? 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:49.630 align:middle line:90% 00:00:49.630 --> 00:00:54.240 align:middle line:90% So this is for Sandra Bland. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:01.030 align:middle line:84% But I love looking for unexpected entry points. 00:01:01.030 --> 00:01:06.000 align:middle line:90% So this is one of her captors. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:06.900 align:middle line:90% "Free To Go." 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:11.220 align:middle line:90% 00:01:11.220 --> 00:01:15.090 align:middle line:84% I'm not wondering how I'll finish her. 00:01:15.090 --> 00:01:17.090 align:middle line:90% I'm sorry. 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:21.230 align:middle line:84% I'm not wondering if I'll finish her, but how. 00:01:21.230 --> 00:01:23.690 align:middle line:84% All her unloosed buck and bluster 00:01:23.690 --> 00:01:26.270 align:middle line:84% upset the bland ritual of privilege, 00:01:26.270 --> 00:01:31.550 align:middle line:84% challenged my power to crush her rampant clench and stink. 00:01:31.550 --> 00:01:35.090 align:middle line:84% That girl's damn mouth just won't stop. 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:38.360 align:middle line:84% Even my best backhand won't shut it. 00:01:38.360 --> 00:01:41.450 align:middle line:84% Just tell me what's happening, she howls. 00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:45.020 align:middle line:90% Can you hold here like this? 00:01:45.020 --> 00:01:47.810 align:middle line:84% I'm thinking, maybe a choke hold. 00:01:47.810 --> 00:01:50.630 align:middle line:84% Once her air goes, that whore will remember just 00:01:50.630 --> 00:01:52.280 align:middle line:90% how the world works. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:54.590 align:middle line:84% Once those pickaninny eyes pop, it 00:01:54.590 --> 00:01:56.570 align:middle line:84% will be well worth the line I'll have 00:01:56.570 --> 00:02:02.180 align:middle line:84% to do, my bland, by-the-book monotone stifling the laugh. 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:03.710 align:middle line:90% That mouth of hers-- 00:02:03.710 --> 00:02:07.520 align:middle line:84% why don't she know this-- has no power over where this day is 00:02:07.520 --> 00:02:11.570 align:middle line:84% bound to go, no power to crack the jailhouse lock or loose 00:02:11.570 --> 00:02:15.200 align:middle line:84% the stranglehold that soon will bring her to her knees. 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:19.160 align:middle line:84% No nigger mouth-- for the last time, girl, quiet down-- 00:02:19.160 --> 00:02:22.580 align:middle line:84% can tell me how to divvy up my justice, a justice that's 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:26.090 align:middle line:84% blind and deaf too when it works this room. 00:02:26.090 --> 00:02:30.170 align:middle line:84% Justice swears it doesn't hear her snotty weep and thrash. 00:02:30.170 --> 00:02:32.300 align:middle line:90% It ignores her sloppy rollic. 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:35.180 align:middle line:84% I've got the power of her throat in my hand. 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:39.530 align:middle line:84% I can light this bland sunless day up with hurt. 00:02:39.530 --> 00:02:43.070 align:middle line:84% She's on the blue threshold of never seeing her home. 00:02:43.070 --> 00:02:45.500 align:middle line:84% It's hilarious how her screeching suddenly 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:49.130 align:middle line:84% stops and her nasty mouth twists with the realizing. 00:02:49.130 --> 00:02:53.180 align:middle line:84% That foul reckless mouth turns oh so greedily to God. 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:56.690 align:middle line:84% She sees it so clear now, the tired body being 00:02:56.690 --> 00:02:59.930 align:middle line:84% appraised, how her captor falls in ugly love 00:02:59.930 --> 00:03:03.620 align:middle line:84% with the power of a hiss in her direction. 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.950 align:middle line:84% And I can hold her down with bright lies of mercy, 00:03:06.950 --> 00:03:11.270 align:middle line:84% with practiced bland promises of air. 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:15.650 align:middle line:84% Unfortunately, Miss Bland will be leaving us soon. 00:03:15.650 --> 00:03:20.660 align:middle line:84% Her hair, her chest, her mouth, and, yes, her neck 00:03:20.660 --> 00:03:23.060 align:middle line:90% are guilty of nothing. 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:25.250 align:middle line:90% I hold the cell door open. 00:03:25.250 --> 00:03:31.520 align:middle line:84% I bow and wait until it's clear that she's already home. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:33.770 align:middle line:90% I power up the Kodak. 00:03:33.770 --> 00:03:39.700 align:middle line:84% And I click, propping her up somehow. 00:03:39.700 --> 00:03:42.000 align:middle line:90%