WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.050 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.050 --> 00:00:03.825 align:middle line:90% Here comes the confessional. 00:00:03.825 --> 00:00:08.780 align:middle line:90% 00:00:08.780 --> 00:00:10.850 align:middle line:84% One of the other things that we did, 00:00:10.850 --> 00:00:15.190 align:middle line:84% my husband and I when we took up ballroom dancing, 00:00:15.190 --> 00:00:18.970 align:middle line:84% is that we also began target practice. 00:00:18.970 --> 00:00:22.372 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:22.372 --> 00:00:26.920 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] It came about, another neighbor 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:29.890 align:middle line:90% who was providing distraction. 00:00:29.890 --> 00:00:32.140 align:middle line:84% Who's a retired general said, you know, 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:35.350 align:middle line:84% before you judge guns too harshly you should at least 00:00:35.350 --> 00:00:37.120 align:middle line:90% know how they work and know-- 00:00:37.120 --> 00:00:39.670 align:middle line:90% 00:00:39.670 --> 00:00:41.570 align:middle line:84% you should know what they are about. 00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:44.290 align:middle line:84% And so he offered to take us out to the range 00:00:44.290 --> 00:00:46.930 align:middle line:84% and to show us how to shoot a gun. 00:00:46.930 --> 00:00:51.590 align:middle line:84% And to teach us, of course, the safety [INAUDIBLE].. 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:54.680 align:middle line:84% I was terrified and full of, kind of, 00:00:54.680 --> 00:00:57.110 align:middle line:90% a righteous terror, I think. 00:00:57.110 --> 00:00:59.930 align:middle line:84% We went out and we tried to even though it with noisy 00:00:59.930 --> 00:01:01.460 align:middle line:90% and it was horrifying. 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:08.210 align:middle line:84% And then I-- he handed me a gun that fit my hand. 00:01:08.210 --> 00:01:11.060 align:middle line:84% And I suddenly realized that there 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:13.780 align:middle line:84% was a, kind of, an eerie, I guess you could say, 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:19.880 align:middle line:84% an eerie delight that can come from hitting a target true. 00:01:19.880 --> 00:01:23.660 align:middle line:84% And having an instrument that does that. 00:01:23.660 --> 00:01:25.910 align:middle line:90% I didn't like this feeling. 00:01:25.910 --> 00:01:29.720 align:middle line:84% It was not part of my political program. 00:01:29.720 --> 00:01:30.220 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:30.220 --> 00:01:34.210 align:middle line:84% And I thought I was going to tonight 00:01:34.210 --> 00:01:36.570 align:middle line:84% and then I thought, no, no that's not what a poet does. 00:01:36.570 --> 00:01:37.070 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:37.070 --> 00:01:41.500 align:middle line:84% And so this poem, which is in several parts, 00:01:41.500 --> 00:01:43.680 align:middle line:90% again, with each with titles. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:50.500 align:middle line:84% The poem is called "Meditation at Fifty Yards, Moving Target." 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:51.280 align:middle line:90% "Safety first. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.040 align:middle line:90% 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:58.480 align:middle line:84% Never point your weapon, keep your finger off the trigger. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:02.650 align:middle line:84% Assume a loaded barrel, even when it isn't, especially when 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:04.840 align:middle line:90% you know it isn't. 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:07.780 align:middle line:84% Glocks are lightweight but sensitive. 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:11.440 align:middle line:84% The Keltec has a long haul and a kick. 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:14.290 align:middle line:84% Rifles have penetrating power, that is, 00:02:14.290 --> 00:02:17.320 align:middle line:84% if the projectile doesn't lodge in its mark, 00:02:17.320 --> 00:02:20.410 align:middle line:84% it will travel some distance before it finds shelter. 00:02:20.410 --> 00:02:25.000 align:middle line:84% It will certainly pierce your ordinary drywall partition. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.150 align:middle line:84% You could wound the burglar and kill your child sleeping 00:02:28.150 --> 00:02:30.835 align:middle line:84% in the next room, all with one shot. 00:02:30.835 --> 00:02:33.400 align:middle line:90% 00:02:33.400 --> 00:02:35.530 align:middle line:90% Open air. 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:38.860 align:middle line:90% Fear, of course. 00:02:38.860 --> 00:02:41.710 align:middle line:84% Then the sudden pleasure of heft. 00:02:41.710 --> 00:02:45.970 align:middle line:84% As if the hand had always yearned for this solemn fit, 00:02:45.970 --> 00:02:51.430 align:middle line:84% this gravitas, and now had found its true repose. 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:54.220 align:middle line:84% Don't pull the trigger, squeeze it. 00:02:54.220 --> 00:02:57.040 align:middle line:90% Squeeze between heartbeats. 00:02:57.040 --> 00:02:58.480 align:middle line:90% Look down the sights. 00:02:58.480 --> 00:02:59.960 align:middle line:90% Don't hold your breath. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:04.360 align:middle line:84% Don't hold anything, just stop breathing. 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.550 align:middle line:90% Level the scene with your eyes. 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:09.130 align:middle line:90% Listen. 00:03:09.130 --> 00:03:11.620 align:middle line:90% Soft, now, squeeze." 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:14.460 align:middle line:90% 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:17.790 align:middle line:90% "Gender politics." 00:03:17.790 --> 00:03:20.040 align:middle line:90% "Guys like noise. 00:03:20.040 --> 00:03:24.660 align:middle line:84% Rapid fire, thunk and slide of a blunt nose silver Mossberg, 00:03:24.660 --> 00:03:28.560 align:middle line:84% or double-handed Colts, slugging it out from the hips. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:32.160 align:middle line:84% Rambo or cowboy, they'll whoop it up. 00:03:32.160 --> 00:03:35.100 align:middle line:90% Women are fewer, more elegant. 00:03:35.100 --> 00:03:37.500 align:middle line:90% They prefer precision. 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:41.280 align:middle line:84% Tin cans swing dancing in the trees, the paper bull's eye's 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:44.760 align:middle line:90% tidy rupture at fifty yards. 00:03:44.760 --> 00:03:45.570 align:middle line:90% Question. 00:03:45.570 --> 00:03:49.440 align:middle line:84% If you were being pursued, how would you prefer to go down? 00:03:49.440 --> 00:03:54.930 align:middle line:84% Ripped through a blanket of fire or plucked by one incandescent 00:03:54.930 --> 00:03:58.260 align:middle line:90% fingertip." 00:03:58.260 --> 00:04:01.200 align:middle line:90% "The bullet." 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:03.060 align:middle line:90% "Dark, dark. 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:03.690 align:middle line:90% No wind. 00:04:03.690 --> 00:04:04.620 align:middle line:90% No heaven. 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:06.630 align:middle line:90% I am not anything. 00:04:06.630 --> 00:04:07.860 align:middle line:90% Not borne on air. 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:09.990 align:middle line:90% I bear myself. 00:04:09.990 --> 00:04:11.610 align:middle line:90% I can slice the air. 00:04:11.610 --> 00:04:13.050 align:middle line:90% No wind can hold me. 00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:15.450 align:middle line:90% Let me go. 00:04:15.450 --> 00:04:16.740 align:middle line:90% I can see, yes. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:17.910 align:middle line:90% Oh, aperture. 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:18.839 align:middle line:90% Oh, light. 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:20.519 align:middle line:90% Let me off. 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:21.570 align:middle line:90% Go off. 00:04:21.570 --> 00:04:23.220 align:middle line:90% Straight as my verb. 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:25.320 align:middle line:90% Straight my glory road. 00:04:25.320 --> 00:04:27.510 align:middle line:90% Yes, now I can feel it. 00:04:27.510 --> 00:04:30.270 align:middle line:90% The light I am flame, velocity. 00:04:30.270 --> 00:04:33.330 align:middle line:90% Oh, beautiful body, I am coming. 00:04:33.330 --> 00:04:34.740 align:middle line:90% I am yours. 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:38.420 align:middle line:90% Before you know it, I am home." 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:40.000 align:middle line:90%