WEBVTT

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This next poem is
strange for me.

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It's called "The
History of Invention".

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This is more or less in order
of what humans have accomplished

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in their history.

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It's sort of tongue in cheek.

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In the beginning, cave
paintings and harpoons,

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potter's wheels, beer, and maps.

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Then boats, silk and ink,
bathtubs and alphabets, chess,

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stirrups, gold coins,
roof tiles, and libraries.

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Followed by democracy,
kites, mausoleums, aqueducts,

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gunpowder, vellum
books-- a world map.

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After that, astrolabes,
earthen lamps, circular cities,

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and prayer beads.

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Whiskey and stained glass,
windmills, porcelain, cheese.

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Then banks, followed by
true-lock gates and chambers,

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paper money,
sonnets, the compass,

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and a Bible for the poor.

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Spectacles and watermarks,
caricatures, artillery,

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gun carrying ships, and the
first history of the world.

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Then followed padlocks,
wooden toy cannons,

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toy dolls with movable arms,
playing cards and printed

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music, wallpaper, carillon
bells, a hymn book,

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cesarean section, diving
bells and artificial limbs.

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The camera, obscura,
pencils, the pendulum.

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Then calendar reform, time bombs
and newspapers, slide rules

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and classified ads, bayonets,
parameters, wheelchairs,

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invisible ink, postage stamps,
pressure cookers, statistics,

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champagne and clarinets.

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Jeweled watches, tuning
forks, arsenic, boxing gloves,

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scissors, sextants, fire
escapes, false teeth,

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the infinite velocity
of light-- rather--

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the finite velocity of light.

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Then, balloons, rockets,
bifocals, bourbon, parachutes,

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and mass production.

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The wave theory of light,
gas-lit streets and morphine.

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Canned food, kaleidoscopes,
cocoa and microphones,

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Morse code, Christmas cards,
saxophones, rubber bands.

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I think that's where we stopped.

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