WEBVTT

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"Sherbet."

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"The problem here is
that--" I'm sorry,

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"the problem here is
that this isn't pretty,

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the sort of thing which can
easily be dealt with words.

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After all, it's a horror
story to set a Black man

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with a white wife in the
middle of a hot Sunday

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afternoon at the Jefferson
hotel in Richmond, Virginia,

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and wait like a
criminal for service

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from a young white
waitress who has decided

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that this looks
like something she

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doesn't want to be a part of.

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What poetry could describe the
perfect angle of this woman's

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back and she walks, just
so mapping the room off

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like the end of
a border dispute?

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Which metaphor could turn
the room more perfectly

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into a group of islands?

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And when the manager
finally arrives,

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what language do I use, to
translate the nervous emotions,

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the yawning afternoon
silence, the prayer beneath

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is simple inquiries?

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The sherbet which he then brings
to the table personally just

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to be certain the doubt stays
on our side of the fence.

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What do we call the rich
sweet taste of frozen oranges

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in this context?

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What do we call a weight,
that doesn't fingerprint,

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won't shift, and can't explode?"