WEBVTT

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Thank you, Odilia.

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I'm going to begin my reading
tonight with a poem about,

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and dedicated to, the island
of Puerto Rico for the reasons

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we've already discussed.

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This poem is actually about
the music of Puerto Rico.

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In particular, it's about the
music brought by the slaves

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from West Africa with their
religion, which survived

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every attempt by the
Spanish to stamp it out,

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and is now an essential
part of Puerto Rican

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history, culture, and identity.

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If you ever go to Puerto Rico,
if you ever go to Viejo San

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Juan, the old city, you'll
find a street there--

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and hopefully it's still there--

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called San Sebastián,
St. Sebastian Street,

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a street famous for its music.

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There's a big festival
there, and all year long, you

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can hear this music coming
from the bars and the clubs

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and the street itself.

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And so much of it is
music that came originally

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with the slaves and their
religion from West Africa.

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So for me, San Sebastián,
St. Sebastian Street,

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is a street of miracles.

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It's a street where the
impossible can happen.

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Even the end of war.

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The return of the dead, or
the survival of a people.

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There's a very simple
Spanish refrain here,

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"en la calle San Sebastián,"
on St. Sebastian Street.

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So I hope you can hear
the music in the words,

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and I hope you can
hear the spirit

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and resiliency of the
people in these words, too.

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"En la Calle San Sebastián,"
Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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"Here at a bar on the street
of the saint en la calle San

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Sebastián, a dancer in white
with a red red scarf en la

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calle San Sebastián, calls
to the gods who were freed

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by slaves en la
calle San Sebastián.

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And his bronze face is a
lantern of sweat en la calle San

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Sebastián, and hands smack
congas like flies in the field

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en la calle San Sebastián.

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And remember the beat of
packing crates in la calle San

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Sebastián.

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From the days when overseers
banished the drum en la calle

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San Sebastián, and trumpets
screech like parrots of gold en

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la calle San Sebastián, trumpets
that herald the end of the war

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en la calle San Sebastián,
as soldiers toss rifles

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on cobblestone en la
calle San Sebastián.

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And the saint himself snaps an
arrow in half en la calle San

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Sebastián, then lost
grandfathers and fathers appear

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en la calle San Sebastián,
fingers tugging my steel wool

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beard en la calle San Sebastián,
whispering your beard is gray

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en la calle San Sebastián,
spilling the rum across

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the table en la
calle San Sebastián.

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Two cousins lead them away to
bed en la calle San Sebastián.

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And the dancer in white with a
face of bronze en la calle San

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Sebastián, shakes rain from his
hair like the god of storms en

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la calle San Sebastián, and
sings with the blood that drums

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in the chest en la
calle San Sebastián,

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and praises the blood that beats
in the hands en la calle San

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Sebastián, en la
calle San Sebastián."

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