WEBVTT

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Now this is a found
poem for the most part.

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Almost every poet who
has written for a while

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is asked at one time or
another to write a poem

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to be set to music and I
had a very early commission

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of this kind.

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And it was an extremely
challenging one.

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And I don't know how many
poets there are in the audience

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but those of you who
are poets or have ever

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tried to write poetry will know
how challenging this commission

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was and I know that the
rest of you can guess.

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This is called
lives of the poets.

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I was fortunate enough to have
a mother who on one occasion

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encouraged me by
commissioning a poem.

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Newly married, I was
tackling my first teaching

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job when a letter came
which said in part,

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"As writing is so
easy for you, I

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want you to write a poem about
the San Benito ladies auxiliary

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that I belong to.

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Our club has 20 members,
and we bake cute cookies,

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and serve them with coffee and
do our sewing at the meeting.

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We make stuffed animals to give
poor Texas kids at Christmas.

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We meet on every
other Wednesday.

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Tell all that in the poem.

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Write the poem to be sung
to the tune of silent night

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holy night."

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As that is the only
song I have learned

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to play so far on my accordion.

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I want to play and sing
it at the club meeting,

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I could do it myself of course
but writing makes me nervous.

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I'm sure you will do this for me
because it is so easy for you,

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and I know you wouldn't
want me to get nervous.

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I have to have it this
week so I can get it

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down pat for the next meeting.

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In the midst of grading
100 or so freshman themes,

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trying to master a vision
so I could teach Yates,

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and reading the output of
my creative writing class,

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I wrote the poem for her.

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Some of the rhymes were hard.

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I'm only sorry that
I didn't keep a copy

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and that I missed
the performance.

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