WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.020 align:middle line:90% 00:00:05.020 --> 00:00:07.750 align:middle line:90% Thank you very much, Renee. 00:00:07.750 --> 00:00:09.400 align:middle line:90% I'm so happy she's here. 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:11.920 align:middle line:84% She was a wonderful student and wonderful poet. 00:00:11.920 --> 00:00:15.070 align:middle line:84% And it's great that she's at the Center. 00:00:15.070 --> 00:00:18.320 align:middle line:84% This is very special for me to be reading in Arizona. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.880 align:middle line:84% This is my fourth reading for the Poetry Center. 00:00:21.880 --> 00:00:25.580 align:middle line:84% I started reading here 26 years ago. 00:00:25.580 --> 00:00:29.800 align:middle line:84% And so this is a dear to my heart, this place. 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:33.970 align:middle line:84% I did have an adventure getting here, I have to tell you. 00:00:33.970 --> 00:00:36.610 align:middle line:84% 600 flights were canceled from the airport 00:00:36.610 --> 00:00:38.140 align:middle line:90% from which I was departing. 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:42.460 align:middle line:84% We had a sheet of ice on everything and was glass. 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:44.560 align:middle line:84% Everything was ice, and the airport 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.360 align:middle line:84% was closed for a long time that day. 00:00:46.360 --> 00:00:48.610 align:middle line:84% And I was trying to find backup flights. 00:00:48.610 --> 00:00:51.340 align:middle line:84% There wasn't a single seat available on any plane 00:00:51.340 --> 00:00:53.590 align:middle line:90% into Tucson or Phoenix for days. 00:00:53.590 --> 00:00:56.150 align:middle line:84% So I thought, if I don't get on this plane, it won't happen. 00:00:56.150 --> 00:00:58.570 align:middle line:84% So I struck up a conversation with another gentleman 00:00:58.570 --> 00:01:01.600 align:middle line:84% in group seven, boarding group seven for my flight. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.150 align:middle line:84% And we turned out to be across the aisles from each other, 00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:06.490 align:middle line:84% and we struck up a conversation during the flight. 00:01:06.490 --> 00:01:08.440 align:middle line:84% And we ran out of fuel in the air 00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:10.540 align:middle line:84% and had to land in Albuquerque to fuel up 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:11.980 align:middle line:90% because of storms in Phoenix. 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:13.610 align:middle line:84% And I thought, this isn't happening. 00:01:13.610 --> 00:01:19.975 align:middle line:84% And finally, I said, listen, I have to get to Tucson. 00:01:19.975 --> 00:01:21.560 align:middle line:90% Do you know Arizona? 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:23.268 align:middle line:90% Can you help me give me advice? 00:01:23.268 --> 00:01:25.310 align:middle line:84% If we land in Phoenix in the middle of the night, 00:01:25.310 --> 00:01:26.623 align:middle line:90% how do I get to Tucson? 00:01:26.623 --> 00:01:28.540 align:middle line:84% And he said, why do you need to get to Tucson? 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:29.290 align:middle line:90% Do you live there? 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:30.770 align:middle line:90% And I said, no, no. 00:01:30.770 --> 00:01:34.930 align:middle line:84% I have to be there tomorrow night for a big poetry reading. 00:01:34.930 --> 00:01:36.080 align:middle line:90% And he said, where? 00:01:36.080 --> 00:01:37.480 align:middle line:90% And I said, at the university. 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:40.840 align:middle line:84% And he said, well, I'm the president of the university. 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:42.760 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:47.530 align:middle line:84% So I thought, well, I'm going to take this occasion 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:52.030 align:middle line:84% to talk about the MFA program, the Poetry Center, the prison 00:01:52.030 --> 00:01:53.710 align:middle line:90% program. 00:01:53.710 --> 00:01:56.050 align:middle line:90% So there you go. 00:01:56.050 --> 00:01:57.310 align:middle line:90% He's a nice guy. 00:01:57.310 --> 00:01:58.780 align:middle line:90% He really is a nice guy. 00:01:58.780 --> 00:01:59.865 align:middle line:90% He's a physicist. 00:01:59.865 --> 00:02:01.240 align:middle line:84% He thinks physics and poetry have 00:02:01.240 --> 00:02:04.960 align:middle line:84% something to do with each other, so he's not stupid. 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:07.960 align:middle line:84% So I thought, he really, really-- he was lovely, 00:02:07.960 --> 00:02:10.120 align:middle line:84% and it was great, and he helped me get on a plane. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:10.840 align:middle line:90% He really did. 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:14.200 align:middle line:84% He found me a cart, and he said, B5, 00:02:14.200 --> 00:02:15.940 align:middle line:84% they're taking off in 15 minutes. 00:02:15.940 --> 00:02:17.410 align:middle line:90% You have to get there. 00:02:17.410 --> 00:02:19.180 align:middle line:90% So it was good. 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.070 align:middle line:84% That's how I'm here, your president. 00:02:21.070 --> 00:02:22.810 align:middle line:90% That was good, OK. 00:02:22.810 --> 00:02:23.620 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:25.000 align:middle line:90% Robert Shelton. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:26.440 align:middle line:90% OK, he's your new guy. 00:02:26.440 --> 00:02:30.190 align:middle line:84% Seven months he's been on the job. 00:02:30.190 --> 00:02:31.897 align:middle line:84% I told him about the prison program. 00:02:31.897 --> 00:02:32.980 align:middle line:90% He didn't know about that. 00:02:32.980 --> 00:02:35.272 align:middle line:84% And I said, well, how long have you been the president? 00:02:35.272 --> 00:02:36.860 align:middle line:90% And he said, seven months. 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:40.140 align:middle line:84% And I said, well, let me bring you up to speed here.