WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.320 align:middle line:90%


00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.420 align:middle line:84%
Thank you so much for that
introduction, Gabriel.

00:00:08.420 --> 00:00:10.015 align:middle line:90%
I appreciate it.

00:00:10.015 --> 00:00:11.390 align:middle line:84%
One of the things
that I'm always

00:00:11.390 --> 00:00:14.060 align:middle line:84%
gifted with when I have
these opportunities to read

00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:20.060 align:middle line:84%
is to also see how others are
reading me, and it's beautiful.

00:00:20.060 --> 00:00:27.200 align:middle line:84%
Before I begin, I want to thank
Tyler, Diana, Sarah, Sarah,

00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:31.850 align:middle line:84%
Julie, Leela, Paola, and
everyone else at the Poetry

00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:37.400 align:middle line:84%
Center for being so welcoming
in the summer when school

00:00:37.400 --> 00:00:38.660 align:middle line:90%
isn't even happening yet.

00:00:38.660 --> 00:00:41.780 align:middle line:84%
That means a lot to
Mai Der and myself.

00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:45.050 align:middle line:84%
We got here and we
didn't expect much,

00:00:45.050 --> 00:00:48.980 align:middle line:84%
but we appreciate everything
that you've given to us.

00:00:48.980 --> 00:00:50.600 align:middle line:84%
That wasn't supposed
to be funny,

00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:52.593 align:middle line:90%
it was supposed to be genuine.

00:00:52.593 --> 00:00:55.010 align:middle line:84%
Also I see some of my students
from my workshop last week,

00:00:55.010 --> 00:00:57.000 align:middle line:90%
it's good to see your faces.

00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:57.980 align:middle line:90%
Thank you for coming.

00:00:57.980 --> 00:01:03.470 align:middle line:84%
And to those out there in
the virtual world, hello.

00:01:03.470 --> 00:01:08.630 align:middle line:84%
I'm going to read
tonight nervously.

00:01:08.630 --> 00:01:10.100 align:middle line:84%
Reading here at
the Poetry Center

00:01:10.100 --> 00:01:13.760 align:middle line:90%
is very meaningful for me.

00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:15.860 align:middle line:84%
I have ancestors,
my grandmother,

00:01:15.860 --> 00:01:20.510 align:middle line:84%
who actually passed
away in 1999,

00:01:20.510 --> 00:01:23.300 align:middle line:84%
the anniversary of her death was
while I was here in residency.

00:01:23.300 --> 00:01:26.660 align:middle line:84%
She was originally from
Arizona, much of my family

00:01:26.660 --> 00:01:29.630 align:middle line:84%
was in Arizona, and then
the border crossed them.

00:01:29.630 --> 00:01:31.780 align:middle line:84%
And that's some ways,
many ways, where

00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:34.680 align:middle line:90%
are these poems birthed from.

00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:37.160 align:middle line:84%
So I'm going to read
some poems from the book,

00:01:37.160 --> 00:01:39.770 align:middle line:84%
and then I'm going to
read some new work,

00:01:39.770 --> 00:01:43.500 align:middle line:84%
and then I'm going to
read a translation.

00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:44.000 align:middle line:90%