WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.670 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.670 --> 00:00:07.350 align:middle line:90% And that murderer time. 00:00:07.350 --> 00:00:11.820 align:middle line:84% Sometimes who finally takes our lives, come what may. 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:14.490 align:middle line:90% 00:00:14.490 --> 00:00:17.340 align:middle line:84% Sometimes when we reach a great age-- 00:00:17.340 --> 00:00:21.240 align:middle line:84% and you young people will have to think of your grandparents, 00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:25.215 align:middle line:84% as I think of my parents, when I write this way-- 00:00:25.215 --> 00:00:28.080 align:middle line:90% 00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:33.300 align:middle line:84% this time, sometimes, takes away so much from the body 00:00:33.300 --> 00:00:37.960 align:middle line:84% that one loses one's pleasure in being alive in the world. 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:40.795 align:middle line:84% And that's what the next poem I'm going to read to you 00:00:40.795 --> 00:00:41.295 align:middle line:90% is about. 00:00:41.295 --> 00:00:48.870 align:middle line:90% 00:00:48.870 --> 00:00:50.430 align:middle line:90% I wanted the poem-- 00:00:50.430 --> 00:00:52.350 align:middle line:84% when I tried to write the poem, I 00:00:52.350 --> 00:00:58.380 align:middle line:84% tried to write it so that it was both funny, and tragic, 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:02.880 align:middle line:90% and sad, and hopeful. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:06.780 align:middle line:84% So any reaction you have to the poem 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:09.390 align:middle line:90% is appropriate to my intentions. 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:12.990 align:middle line:90% 00:01:12.990 --> 00:01:18.510 align:middle line:84% It's metered very roughly, and it's rhymed, 00:01:18.510 --> 00:01:21.900 align:middle line:84% but you won't hear the rhymes because I 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:27.150 align:middle line:84% tucked the rhymes into the middle of phrases and clauses. 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:29.820 align:middle line:84% And I'm going to read my sentences 00:01:29.820 --> 00:01:32.700 align:middle line:84% so that you can get the colloquial quality 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:34.305 align:middle line:90% of the father's voice. 00:01:34.305 --> 00:01:37.710 align:middle line:90% 00:01:37.710 --> 00:01:41.070 align:middle line:84% You may hear a rhyme or two, but it's rhymed very regularly 00:01:41.070 --> 00:01:44.310 align:middle line:90% all the way through. 00:01:44.310 --> 00:01:46.710 align:middle line:84% The poem is written in six letters. 00:01:46.710 --> 00:01:49.590 align:middle line:90% 00:01:49.590 --> 00:01:57.540 align:middle line:84% And then at the end of the sixth letter, 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:00.750 align:middle line:90% I'll pause very briefly. 00:02:00.750 --> 00:02:04.350 align:middle line:84% And the last line of the poem, all of which, 00:02:04.350 --> 00:02:07.980 align:middle line:84% so far, has come to you and the voice of the father, 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:12.090 align:middle line:84% his letters, after the brief pause, the very 00:02:12.090 --> 00:02:14.970 align:middle line:84% last line of the poem will come to you 00:02:14.970 --> 00:02:17.280 align:middle line:90% in the voice of the poet. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.240 align:middle line:84% I hope I can make that transition clear to you. 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.900 align:middle line:90% 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:26.195 align:middle line:84% This is called "Letters From a Father." 00:02:26.195 --> 00:02:29.500 align:middle line:90% 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:32.020 align:middle line:90% "One. 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:34.300 align:middle line:90% Ulcerated tooth keeps me awake. 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:35.890 align:middle line:90% There's such pain. 00:02:35.890 --> 00:02:38.050 align:middle line:84% Would have to go to the hospital to have it 00:02:38.050 --> 00:02:41.800 align:middle line:84% pulled, or would bleed to death from the blood thinners. 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:43.570 align:middle line:90% But can't leave mother. 00:02:43.570 --> 00:02:48.220 align:middle line:84% She falls and forgets her salve and her tranquilizer. 00:02:48.220 --> 00:02:51.910 align:middle line:84% Her ankles swell so, and her bowels are so bad. 00:02:51.910 --> 00:02:54.460 align:middle line:90% She almost had a stoppage. 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:59.170 align:middle line:84% And sometimes what she passes is green as grass. 00:02:59.170 --> 00:03:02.800 align:middle line:84% There are big holes in my thigh where my leg brace buckles 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:05.290 align:middle line:90% the size of dimes. 00:03:05.290 --> 00:03:08.770 align:middle line:84% My head pounds from the high pressure. 00:03:08.770 --> 00:03:11.680 align:middle line:84% It is awful not to be able to get out. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.810 align:middle line:84% And I fell in the bathroom, and the girl 00:03:13.810 --> 00:03:16.570 align:middle line:90% could hardly get me up at all. 00:03:16.570 --> 00:03:18.490 align:middle line:90% Sure thought my back was broken. 00:03:18.490 --> 00:03:20.710 align:middle line:90% It will be next time. 00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:24.520 align:middle line:84% Prostate is bad, and heart has given out. 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.550 align:middle line:90% Feel bloated after supper. 00:03:27.550 --> 00:03:31.690 align:middle line:84% Have made my peace because I'm just plain done for 00:03:31.690 --> 00:03:33.850 align:middle line:84% and have no doubt that the Lord will 00:03:33.850 --> 00:03:37.360 align:middle line:90% come any day with my release. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:40.300 align:middle line:90% You say you enjoy your feeder. 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:42.250 align:middle line:84% I don't see why you want to spend 00:03:42.250 --> 00:03:45.580 align:middle line:90% good money on grain for birds. 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:48.790 align:middle line:84% And you say you have 100 sparrows. 00:03:48.790 --> 00:03:52.600 align:middle line:84% I'd buy poison and get rid of their diseases and turds. 00:03:52.600 --> 00:03:55.800 align:middle line:90% 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:58.200 align:middle line:90% Two. 00:03:58.200 --> 00:03:59.530 align:middle line:90% We enjoyed your visit. 00:03:59.530 --> 00:04:02.190 align:middle line:84% It was nice of you to bring the feeder, 00:04:02.190 --> 00:04:07.560 align:middle line:84% but a terrible waste of your money for that big bag of feed, 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:12.240 align:middle line:84% since we won't be living for more than a few weeks longer. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.340 align:middle line:84% We can see them good from where we 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:16.680 align:middle line:90% sit, big ones and little ones. 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.070 align:middle line:84% But you know, when I farmed, I used to like to hunt. 00:04:20.070 --> 00:04:23.310 align:middle line:84% And we had many a good meal from pigeons, and quail, 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:24.360 align:middle line:90% and pheasant. 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.910 align:middle line:84% But these birds won't be good for nothing, 00:04:26.910 --> 00:04:30.090 align:middle line:84% and they're dirty to have so near the house. 00:04:30.090 --> 00:04:32.820 align:middle line:84% Mother likes the red birds, though. 00:04:32.820 --> 00:04:36.210 align:middle line:84% My bad knee is so sore, and I can't hardly hear. 00:04:36.210 --> 00:04:38.940 align:middle line:84% And Mother says she is hoarse from yelling, 00:04:38.940 --> 00:04:42.600 align:middle line:84% but I know it's too late for a hearing aid. 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:46.590 align:middle line:84% I belch up all the time and have a sour mouth. 00:04:46.590 --> 00:04:50.690 align:middle line:84% And of course, with my heart, it's no use to go to a doctor. 00:04:50.690 --> 00:04:52.590 align:middle line:90% Mother is the same. 00:04:52.590 --> 00:04:58.140 align:middle line:84% Has a scab she thinks is going to turn to a wart. 00:04:58.140 --> 00:05:00.690 align:middle line:90% Three. 00:05:00.690 --> 00:05:02.610 align:middle line:84% The birds are eating and fighting. 00:05:02.610 --> 00:05:04.020 align:middle line:90% Ha ha. 00:05:04.020 --> 00:05:07.410 align:middle line:84% All shapes, and colors, and sizes coming out of our woods, 00:05:07.410 --> 00:05:09.690 align:middle line:90% but we don't know what they are. 00:05:09.690 --> 00:05:12.420 align:middle line:84% Your mother hopes you can send us a kind of book that 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:14.580 align:middle line:90% tells about birds. 00:05:14.580 --> 00:05:17.670 align:middle line:84% There's one bird the folks called snowbirds 00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:19.290 align:middle line:90% that eat on the ground. 00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:21.570 align:middle line:84% We had the girl sprinkle extra there. 00:05:21.570 --> 00:05:24.030 align:middle line:84% But say they eat something awful. 00:05:24.030 --> 00:05:26.530 align:middle line:84% I sent the girl to town to buy some more feed. 00:05:26.530 --> 00:05:27.525 align:middle line:90% She had to go anyway. 00:05:27.525 --> 00:05:30.460 align:middle line:90% 00:05:30.460 --> 00:05:33.020 align:middle line:90% Four. 00:05:33.020 --> 00:05:34.760 align:middle line:84% Almost called you on the telephone, 00:05:34.760 --> 00:05:38.030 align:middle line:84% but it costs so much to call, thought better right. 00:05:38.030 --> 00:05:40.640 align:middle line:84% Say, the funniest thing is happening. 00:05:40.640 --> 00:05:44.960 align:middle line:84% One day we had so many birds, and they fight and get excited 00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:48.860 align:middle line:84% at their feed, you know, and it's really something to watch. 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:50.930 align:middle line:84% And two or three flew right at us, 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:53.780 align:middle line:84% and crashed into our window, and bang-- 00:05:53.780 --> 00:05:57.080 align:middle line:84% poor little things knocked themselves silly. 00:05:57.080 --> 00:06:00.350 align:middle line:84% They come to after a while on the ground and flew away, 00:06:00.350 --> 00:06:02.570 align:middle line:90% and they've been doing that. 00:06:02.570 --> 00:06:04.860 align:middle line:84% We felt awful and didn't know what to do. 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:08.570 align:middle line:84% But the other day, a lady from our church drove out to call. 00:06:08.570 --> 00:06:11.960 align:middle line:84% And a little bird knocked herself out while she sat. 00:06:11.960 --> 00:06:14.940 align:middle line:84% And she brought it in her hands right into the house. 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:16.820 align:middle line:90% It looked like dead. 00:06:16.820 --> 00:06:20.630 align:middle line:84% It had a kind of hat of feathers sticking up on its head, 00:06:20.630 --> 00:06:22.760 align:middle line:90% kind of rose or pinky color. 00:06:22.760 --> 00:06:24.510 align:middle line:90% Don't know what it was. 00:06:24.510 --> 00:06:28.610 align:middle line:84% And I petted it, and it come to life right there in her hands. 00:06:28.610 --> 00:06:31.340 align:middle line:84% And she took it out, and it flew. 00:06:31.340 --> 00:06:35.060 align:middle line:84% She says they think the window is the sky on a fair day. 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:38.750 align:middle line:84% She feeds birds too but hasn't got so many. 00:06:38.750 --> 00:06:41.930 align:middle line:84% She says to hang strips of aluminum foil in the window, 00:06:41.930 --> 00:06:43.610 align:middle line:90% so we'll do that. 00:06:43.610 --> 00:06:45.980 align:middle line:90% She raved about our birds. 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:50.830 align:middle line:84% PS-- the book just come in the mail. 00:06:50.830 --> 00:06:51.330 align:middle line:90% Five. 00:06:51.330 --> 00:06:53.930 align:middle line:90% 00:06:53.930 --> 00:06:56.150 align:middle line:90% Say, that book is sure good. 00:06:56.150 --> 00:06:59.570 align:middle line:84% I study in it every day and enjoy our birds. 00:06:59.570 --> 00:07:02.000 align:middle line:84% Some of them I can't identify for sure. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.890 align:middle line:90% I guess they're females. 00:07:03.890 --> 00:07:06.720 align:middle line:84% The Latin words I just skip over. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.980 align:middle line:84% I bet you'd never guess the sparrows I've got here. 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:11.840 align:middle line:90% House sparrows, you wrote. 00:07:11.840 --> 00:07:16.430 align:middle line:84% But I have fox sparrows, song sparrows, vesper sparrows, 00:07:16.430 --> 00:07:21.260 align:middle line:84% pine woods, and tree, and chipping, and white-throat, 00:07:21.260 --> 00:07:24.140 align:middle line:90% and white-crowned sparrows. 00:07:24.140 --> 00:07:27.170 align:middle line:84% I have six cardinals-- three pairs. 00:07:27.170 --> 00:07:30.560 align:middle line:84% They come at early morning and night, the males at the feeder, 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.230 align:middle line:90% and on the ground, the females. 00:07:33.230 --> 00:07:35.600 align:middle line:90% Juncos-- may be 25. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.040 align:middle line:90% They fight for the ground. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.710 align:middle line:84% That's what they used to call snow birds. 00:07:39.710 --> 00:07:42.890 align:middle line:84% I miss the bluebirds since the weather warmed. 00:07:42.890 --> 00:07:47.000 align:middle line:84% Their breast is the color of a good, ripe muskmelon. 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.680 align:middle line:84% Tufted titmouse is sort of blue with a little, tiny crest. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.130 align:middle line:84% And I have flicker, and red-bellied, and red-headed 00:07:55.130 --> 00:07:56.150 align:middle line:90% woodpeckers. 00:07:56.150 --> 00:07:58.910 align:middle line:84% You would die laughing to see red-bellied. 00:07:58.910 --> 00:08:03.080 align:middle line:84% He hangs on with his head flat on the board, his tail braced 00:08:03.080 --> 00:08:05.480 align:middle line:90% up under, wing out. 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:08.660 align:middle line:84% And dickcissil, and ruby-crowned kinglet, 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:11.480 align:middle line:90% and nuthatch stands on his head. 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:15.110 align:middle line:84% And veery on top, the color of a bird dog. 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:18.770 align:middle line:84% And hermit thrush with spot on breast. 00:08:18.770 --> 00:08:20.990 align:middle line:90% Blue jay's so funny. 00:08:20.990 --> 00:08:23.570 align:middle line:84% He will hop right on the backs of the other birds 00:08:23.570 --> 00:08:25.040 align:middle line:90% to get the grain. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.910 align:middle line:84% We bought some sunflower seeds just for him. 00:08:28.910 --> 00:08:31.910 align:middle line:84% And purple finch, I bet you never seen. 00:08:31.910 --> 00:08:33.860 align:middle line:90% Color of a watermelon. 00:08:33.860 --> 00:08:37.250 align:middle line:84% Sits on the rim of the feeder with his streaky wife. 00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:40.190 align:middle line:84% And the squirrels, you know, they are cute too. 00:08:40.190 --> 00:08:42.890 align:middle line:84% They sit tall and eat with their little hands. 00:08:42.890 --> 00:08:44.780 align:middle line:90% They eat bucketsful. 00:08:44.780 --> 00:08:46.160 align:middle line:90% I pulled my own tooth. 00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:47.390 align:middle line:90% It didn't bleed at all. 00:08:47.390 --> 00:08:50.820 align:middle line:90% 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:52.830 align:middle line:90% Six. 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:55.890 align:middle line:84% It's sure a surprise how well mother is doing. 00:08:55.890 --> 00:09:00.000 align:middle line:84% She forgets her laxative, but bowels move fine. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.800 align:middle line:84% Now that the windows are open, she 00:09:01.800 --> 00:09:04.350 align:middle line:90% says our birds sing all day. 00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:06.090 align:middle line:84% The girl took a book of knowledge 00:09:06.090 --> 00:09:08.700 align:middle line:84% on loan from the library, and I am reading up 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:10.800 align:middle line:90% on the habits of birds. 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:13.510 align:middle line:84% Did you know some males have three wives? 00:09:13.510 --> 00:09:16.020 align:middle line:90% Some migrate, some don't? 00:09:16.020 --> 00:09:19.350 align:middle line:84% I'm going to keep feeding all spring, maybe summer. 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:21.840 align:middle line:90% You can see they expect it. 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:25.110 align:middle line:84% We'll need thistle seed for goldfinch and pine siskin 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:26.850 align:middle line:90% next winter. 00:09:26.850 --> 00:09:28.890 align:middle line:84% Some folks are going to come see us 00:09:28.890 --> 00:09:32.250 align:middle line:84% from church, some bird watchers, pretty soon. 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:35.400 align:middle line:84% They have birds in town, but nothing to equal this. 00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:39.620 align:middle line:90% 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:44.740 align:middle line:84% So the world woos its children back for an evening kiss." 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:48.040 align:middle line:90% 00:09:48.040 --> 00:09:51.090 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:59.000 align:middle line:90%