WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.930 align:middle line:90%


00:00:00.930 --> 00:00:03.130 align:middle line:90%
A couple of newer poems.

00:00:03.130 --> 00:00:05.670 align:middle line:84%
And I think, as
Tucson residents--

00:00:05.670 --> 00:00:08.010 align:middle line:84%
I love Tucson, by
the way, and if there

00:00:08.010 --> 00:00:11.502 align:middle line:84%
were "I heart Tuscon"
[INAUDIBLE] bumper sticker,

00:00:11.502 --> 00:00:13.374 align:middle line:90%
I would put it on my car.

00:00:13.374 --> 00:00:14.780 align:middle line:90%
[LAUGHTER]

00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:18.050 align:middle line:84%
But Tucson in the
summer has something

00:00:18.050 --> 00:00:23.760 align:middle line:84%
in common with this
place, Palermo, in Sicily.

00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.260 align:middle line:90%
And that's the title, "Palermo".

00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:28.750 align:middle line:84%
It was foolish of us
to leave our room.

00:00:28.750 --> 00:00:30.730 align:middle line:90%
The empty plaza was shimmering.

00:00:30.730 --> 00:00:33.550 align:middle line:84%
The clock looked ready
to melt. The heat

00:00:33.550 --> 00:00:37.360 align:middle line:84%
was a mallet striking a
ball and sending it bouncing

00:00:37.360 --> 00:00:39.100 align:middle line:90%
into the nettles of summer.

00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:42.800 align:middle line:84%
Even the bees had
knocked off for the day.

00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:44.980 align:middle line:84%
The only thing
moving besides us,

00:00:44.980 --> 00:00:47.290 align:middle line:84%
and we had since
stopped under an awning,

00:00:47.290 --> 00:00:50.110 align:middle line:84%
was a squirrel who
was darting this way

00:00:50.110 --> 00:00:53.500 align:middle line:84%
and that as if he were having
second thoughts about crossing

00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:57.610 align:middle line:84%
the street, his head and tail
twitching with indecision.

00:00:57.610 --> 00:00:59.980 align:middle line:84%
You were looking
in a shop window

00:00:59.980 --> 00:01:02.890 align:middle line:84%
but I was watching the
squirrel who now rose up

00:01:02.890 --> 00:01:05.620 align:middle line:84%
on his hind legs,
and after pausing

00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:10.420 align:middle line:84%
to look in all directions, began
to sing in a beautiful voice

00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:13.900 align:middle line:84%
a melancholy aria
about life and death,

00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:17.360 align:middle line:84%
his forepaws clutched
against his chest, his face

00:01:17.360 --> 00:01:22.180 align:middle line:84%
full of hope and longing, as
the sun beat down on the roofs

00:01:22.180 --> 00:01:23.710 align:middle line:90%
and awnings of the village,

00:01:23.710 --> 00:01:27.820 align:middle line:84%
and the Earth continued to
turn and hold in position

00:01:27.820 --> 00:01:31.780 align:middle line:84%
the moon which would appear
later that night as we sat

00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:35.020 align:middle line:84%
in a cafe and I
stood up on the table

00:01:35.020 --> 00:01:37.060 align:middle line:84%
with the encouragement
of the owner

00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:41.590 align:middle line:84%
and sang for you and the others
the song the squirrel had

00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:42.506 align:middle line:90%
taught me to sing.

00:01:42.506 --> 00:01:44.490 align:middle line:90%
[LAUGHTER]

00:01:44.490 --> 00:01:46.970 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:01:46.970 --> 00:01:53.420 align:middle line:90%


00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:54.890 align:middle line:90%
The sun can do things to you.

00:01:54.890 --> 00:01:57.340 align:middle line:90%
[LAUGHTER]