WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.280 align:middle line:84% --able to introduce two colleagues from the state. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:07.950 align:middle line:84% In particular, I'm happy to introduce our first reader, 00:00:07.950 --> 00:00:10.680 align:middle line:84% because he's been a friend of mine for many years. 00:00:10.680 --> 00:00:14.880 align:middle line:84% Jim Simmerman and I were fellows together at the Fine Arts Work 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:16.890 align:middle line:90% Center in Provincetown in the-- 00:00:16.890 --> 00:00:18.990 align:middle line:90% where in the heck was that, Jim? 00:00:18.990 --> 00:00:21.190 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHS] Pleistocene. 00:00:21.190 --> 00:00:23.940 align:middle line:90% Yeah, a few years back. 00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:27.660 align:middle line:84% A good time, I think, for both of us in some respects, 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:32.009 align:middle line:84% to have a chunk of time to work on poems 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:35.158 align:middle line:84% and hang out in a wonderful, wild place. 00:00:35.158 --> 00:00:36.450 align:middle line:90% And we've been pals ever since. 00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:38.730 align:middle line:90% I've always admired his work. 00:00:38.730 --> 00:00:42.780 align:middle line:84% His new book of poems, Moon Go Away, I Don't Love You No More, 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:45.990 align:middle line:84% was published by Miami University Press. 00:00:45.990 --> 00:00:50.513 align:middle line:84% His other books are Home and Once Out of Nature. 00:00:50.513 --> 00:00:52.680 align:middle line:84% In addition to the Fine Arts Work Center fellowship, 00:00:52.680 --> 00:00:55.290 align:middle line:84% he's also had a fellowship from the NEA. 00:00:55.290 --> 00:00:59.670 align:middle line:84% And his most recent project is editing an anthology 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:01.250 align:middle line:90% of poems about dogs. 00:01:01.250 --> 00:01:03.880 align:middle line:90% 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:09.150 align:middle line:84% Simmerman brings a truly singing kind of tension 00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:12.870 align:middle line:84% to formal poems, and while he might suggest that 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:16.890 align:middle line:84% he's merely a strategist "duping myself 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:21.810 align:middle line:84% with a dozen dumb tricks," he's not just kidding around. 00:01:21.810 --> 00:01:25.260 align:middle line:84% If forced to compare him to another poet, 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:27.780 align:middle line:90% I'd have to come up with three. 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:31.800 align:middle line:84% Bill Knott for his playfulness, Marilyn Hacker 00:01:31.800 --> 00:01:35.760 align:middle line:84% for his formal mastery, and perhaps Phil Levine 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:37.500 align:middle line:90% for his good heart. 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:41.430 align:middle line:84% If that seems like an unlikely mix to dwell in one poet, 00:01:41.430 --> 00:01:43.680 align:middle line:84% such are the surprises and pleasures 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:45.270 align:middle line:90% in the work of Jim Simmerman. 00:01:45.270 --> 00:01:47.083 align:middle line:90% Please welcome him. 00:01:47.083 --> 00:01:49.548 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:01:49.548 --> 00:01:54.980 align:middle line:90% 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:57.410 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:01:57.410 --> 00:02:02.120 align:middle line:84% That introduction was so nice, I don't think I should read. 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:02.940 align:middle line:90% Can you hear OK? 00:02:02.940 --> 00:02:04.160 align:middle line:90% This seems loud to me. 00:02:04.160 --> 00:02:05.450 align:middle line:90% Can you hear OK? 00:02:05.450 --> 00:02:06.720 align:middle line:90% Are you OK back there? 00:02:06.720 --> 00:02:07.220 align:middle line:90% Good. 00:02:07.220 --> 00:02:10.970 align:middle line:90% 00:02:10.970 --> 00:02:12.390 align:middle line:90% I'm very happy to be here. 00:02:12.390 --> 00:02:14.300 align:middle line:90% I'm happy to see Alison again. 00:02:14.300 --> 00:02:18.050 align:middle line:84% I read with Jewell in Tempe about a month ago, 00:02:18.050 --> 00:02:21.290 align:middle line:84% and it's a pleasure to be down here with her again 00:02:21.290 --> 00:02:24.050 align:middle line:84% and to get to hear her read again. 00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:27.350 align:middle line:84% What I'm going to do is, I had thought 00:02:27.350 --> 00:02:29.030 align:middle line:84% to read some poems from this new book 00:02:29.030 --> 00:02:31.640 align:middle line:84% and then to get into some new material. 00:02:31.640 --> 00:02:33.552 align:middle line:84% But I decided to just go into new material. 00:02:33.552 --> 00:02:34.760 align:middle line:90% So I'm to read all new poems. 00:02:34.760 --> 00:02:37.490 align:middle line:84% I'm on sabbatical this semester, and I've 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:40.040 align:middle line:84% been absorbed in a number of small manias, 00:02:40.040 --> 00:02:43.790 align:middle line:84% following the OJ trial being one of them, relearning to play 00:02:43.790 --> 00:02:46.790 align:middle line:90% the drums being another. 00:02:46.790 --> 00:02:49.280 align:middle line:84% And also writing kind of feverishly, 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:55.970 align:middle line:84% and perhaps even fiendishly, and reminded, in consequence, 00:02:55.970 --> 00:02:59.810 align:middle line:84% that full-time writing is its own madness. 00:02:59.810 --> 00:03:04.730 align:middle line:84% And I've gotten involved in a new manuscript, the working 00:03:04.730 --> 00:03:07.280 align:middle line:90% title of which is Kingdom Come. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.700 align:middle line:84% And these poems are all monologues 00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:15.200 align:middle line:84% in the voices of religious and biblical characters and types. 00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:19.290 align:middle line:90% 00:03:19.290 --> 00:03:22.860 align:middle line:84% So I'm going to test some of these poems out on you. 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:25.500 align:middle line:90% 00:03:25.500 --> 00:03:29.700 align:middle line:84% I'm often interested in the characters' jobs, 00:03:29.700 --> 00:03:32.350 align:middle line:90% their occupations. 00:03:32.350 --> 00:03:37.000 align:middle line:84% So this first poem is called The Baptist. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.900 align:middle line:84% That was my job title, but I don't know. 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:45.310 align:middle line:84% Mostly, I felt like a man unsure of his mission or calling 00:03:45.310 --> 00:03:50.740 align:middle line:84% in a world gone inexplicably gaga over the latest fad. 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:53.560 align:middle line:84% Not so bad as tattooing, of course, 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.200 align:middle line:84% that permanent, sad, cartoonish art 00:03:56.200 --> 00:04:00.910 align:middle line:84% which, given the dissolute acts of my past, I eschewed, 00:04:00.910 --> 00:04:04.750 align:middle line:84% ever paranoid of identifying marks. 00:04:04.750 --> 00:04:09.130 align:middle line:84% Nor body piercing, another pop and pointless preoccupation 00:04:09.130 --> 00:04:11.830 align:middle line:84% among the congregations of certain sects 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:13.570 align:middle line:84% who seem not to feel as though they 00:04:13.570 --> 00:04:17.290 align:middle line:84% had enough holes in their heads already. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:19.120 align:middle line:90% Steady, most days. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.970 align:middle line:84% Clean and sober, I tried hard not 00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:26.170 align:middle line:84% to think about the brink of ruination I teetered on always, 00:04:26.170 --> 00:04:32.140 align:middle line:84% the tightwire of nerves between null and void I tiptoed along. 00:04:32.140 --> 00:04:35.740 align:middle line:84% Was I wrong, then, to pursue a vocation the nature of which 00:04:35.740 --> 00:04:39.340 align:middle line:84% was commercial, and for which the only requisites were 00:04:39.340 --> 00:04:43.060 align:middle line:90% a knack for rhetoric and water? 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:49.270 align:middle line:84% Sacrosanct, self-employed, I blessed each man, woman, son, 00:04:49.270 --> 00:04:53.530 align:middle line:84% and daughter willing to cough up a quarter for the privilege 00:04:53.530 --> 00:04:57.880 align:middle line:84% of having their heads dunked under until a day came 00:04:57.880 --> 00:05:02.260 align:middle line:84% I discovered I had begun to hold first one, then another, 00:05:02.260 --> 00:05:06.100 align:middle line:84% beneath the surface a little longer, 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:08.710 align:middle line:84% had begun to take a sort of pleasure in the way 00:05:08.710 --> 00:05:12.370 align:middle line:84% their faces clenched against the pressure of my palm. 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:14.140 align:middle line:84% And in the twitchings and shudders 00:05:14.140 --> 00:05:17.680 align:middle line:84% of the body possessed abruptly by the Holy Spirit 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.800 align:middle line:84% of its own mortality, the pure chemical 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.990 align:middle line:84% rush of the brain to stake its claim 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:25.660 align:middle line:90% on the thin air of this Earth. 00:05:25.660 --> 00:05:28.240 align:middle line:84% So high was I by then on the power 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.370 align:middle line:84% and the glory of my own authority, 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:33.040 align:middle line:84% I could hardly let loose my hold, 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.130 align:middle line:84% could hardly contain the ecstatic waves breaking 00:05:36.130 --> 00:05:39.250 align:middle line:84% against the walls of my heart like Methadrine 00:05:39.250 --> 00:05:43.150 align:middle line:84% at the joyful noises they made finally, their gasps 00:05:43.150 --> 00:05:46.130 align:middle line:90% and sputtering of praise. 00:05:46.130 --> 00:05:50.410 align:middle line:84% And so I say unto you of shallow faith, 00:05:50.410 --> 00:05:53.470 align:middle line:84% come down and drown your sinful ways 00:05:53.470 --> 00:05:56.260 align:middle line:90% in the ordained river of heaven. 00:05:56.260 --> 00:05:59.950 align:middle line:84% You can kick and claw at the hand of the Almighty, 00:05:59.950 --> 00:06:01.750 align:middle line:84% but you can't hold your breath forever. 00:06:01.750 --> 00:06:05.230 align:middle line:90% 00:06:05.230 --> 00:06:06.782 align:middle line:90% That'd be The Baptist. 00:06:06.782 --> 00:06:09.880 align:middle line:90% 00:06:09.880 --> 00:06:15.070 align:middle line:84% You'll recognize this character as Goliath, to a point. 00:06:15.070 --> 00:06:19.090 align:middle line:90% 00:06:19.090 --> 00:06:22.060 align:middle line:90% The poem's The Philistine. 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:26.440 align:middle line:84% The Philistine, the Goliath, speaks and says this. 00:06:26.440 --> 00:06:29.380 align:middle line:84% Though I had always been large for my age, 00:06:29.380 --> 00:06:32.710 align:middle line:84% I was never one to pick a fight, never went out 00:06:32.710 --> 00:06:34.960 align:middle line:84% for competitive sports or bullied my way 00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:37.240 align:middle line:90% to the front of the line. 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.780 align:middle line:84% If mine was the girth and height of a titan, 00:06:40.780 --> 00:06:44.170 align:middle line:84% I felt like a schoolgirl inside, would 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:46.180 align:middle line:84% blush at the rush of my classmates 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:51.850 align:middle line:84% to recess whose horseplay and roughneck I could not abide. 00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:55.570 align:middle line:84% Believe me, I tried and tried to make friends, 00:06:55.570 --> 00:07:00.040 align:middle line:84% but my smile capsized in the sea of my jowls. 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.790 align:middle line:84% My pass at a laugh howled forth like a gale. 00:07:03.790 --> 00:07:07.270 align:middle line:90% Sometimes I frighten myself. 00:07:07.270 --> 00:07:10.030 align:middle line:84% Sometimes I felt I'd been issued in error 00:07:10.030 --> 00:07:14.050 align:middle line:84% a body I could not return, could not get out of, shrink, 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:15.880 align:middle line:90% or take in. 00:07:15.880 --> 00:07:19.030 align:middle line:90% Whatever I did, I grew. 00:07:19.030 --> 00:07:21.280 align:middle line:84% When I was drafted, they threw me up 00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:25.690 align:middle line:84% to the front, promoted me solely based on my size 00:07:25.690 --> 00:07:28.300 align:middle line:84% and for the way I could make the enemy quake, 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:31.510 align:middle line:84% turn tail, and flee just by waving my arms 00:07:31.510 --> 00:07:37.120 align:middle line:84% and rolling my eyes, an act I devised by pretending to dance. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.360 align:middle line:84% Though of course, I had never been asked. 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:43.660 align:middle line:84% I was lonely as ever, even with rank. 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:49.900 align:middle line:84% My duty was easy but crass, until that son of a shepherd, 00:07:49.900 --> 00:07:54.610 align:middle line:84% a child, really, with the voice of an alto, skin like milk, 00:07:54.610 --> 00:07:57.580 align:middle line:84% eyes of cornflower blue, called me 00:07:57.580 --> 00:08:00.100 align:middle line:84% out to the field of battle at last, 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:03.730 align:middle line:84% as if onto the floor of a ballroom. 00:08:03.730 --> 00:08:08.680 align:middle line:84% And when the rock hit my head, it felt like a kiss. 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:11.470 align:middle line:90% What had I ever wanted but love? 00:08:11.470 --> 00:08:16.450 align:middle line:84% To be swept off my feet completely, just once. 00:08:16.450 --> 00:08:20.611 align:middle line:90% Oh, David, my hero, my dove. 00:08:20.611 --> 00:08:22.966 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:08:22.966 --> 00:08:26.740 align:middle line:90% 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:28.420 align:middle line:84% This is a poem-- many of these poems 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:32.590 align:middle line:84% I have read not at all, or perhaps only once before. 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:38.030 align:middle line:84% And when I read with Jewell in Tempe last month, 00:08:38.030 --> 00:08:39.710 align:middle line:84% this is a poem that I actually ended up 00:08:39.710 --> 00:08:42.500 align:middle line:84% reading around a table in a cafe as we were 00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:45.340 align:middle line:90% having beers after the reading. 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:49.730 align:middle line:84% So I thought I'd try it before a larger audience. 00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:54.950 align:middle line:84% The speaker of this poem is Joseph, the kind 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:58.520 align:middle line:90% of stepfather of Jesus. 00:08:58.520 --> 00:09:02.420 align:middle line:84% And he begins by talking first about Mary, the Virgin 00:09:02.420 --> 00:09:06.980 align:middle line:84% Mary, and later about Jesus, about the boy. 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:10.100 align:middle line:84% And again, the poem takes an interest in his vocation. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:12.818 align:middle line:84% And so this poem is The Carpenter. 00:09:12.818 --> 00:09:15.450 align:middle line:90% 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:18.870 align:middle line:84% Someone nailed her, and someone would 00:09:18.870 --> 00:09:23.400 align:middle line:84% have to marry her who yet maintains she was a virgin. 00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:28.260 align:middle line:84% Sure, what with her belly bulging like barrel staves. 00:09:28.260 --> 00:09:31.950 align:middle line:84% Still, she was a cutie, her bright eyes 00:09:31.950 --> 00:09:37.470 align:middle line:84% shining like varnished mahogany, her skin golden as honey oak. 00:09:37.470 --> 00:09:42.240 align:middle line:84% Finally, I spoke plainly to her, as befits a man of my trade, 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.600 align:middle line:84% saying, sweetie, you have snapped a chalk line 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.620 align:middle line:84% down the center of my heart, cut through it cleanly. 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:53.190 align:middle line:84% Won't you finish your work and be my wife? 00:09:53.190 --> 00:09:54.900 align:middle line:84% Which was a hard row from the get 00:09:54.900 --> 00:09:58.320 align:middle line:84% go, what with taxes and the necessary commuting 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:00.510 align:middle line:90% to construction sites. 00:10:00.510 --> 00:10:03.330 align:middle line:84% Plus, there were the inevitable sniggers and jokes 00:10:03.330 --> 00:10:07.380 align:middle line:84% about another man's chisel in my toolbox. 00:10:07.380 --> 00:10:09.180 align:middle line:90% But we managed. 00:10:09.180 --> 00:10:11.430 align:middle line:90% We survived. 00:10:11.430 --> 00:10:13.560 align:middle line:84% And when the child arrived, I raised him 00:10:13.560 --> 00:10:15.900 align:middle line:84% as if he were my own, instructing him 00:10:15.900 --> 00:10:18.940 align:middle line:84% in the many things a carpenter should know. 00:10:18.940 --> 00:10:22.530 align:middle line:84% First and last, good wood from bad. 00:10:22.530 --> 00:10:26.550 align:middle line:84% How there's a time to sand and a time to caulk. 00:10:26.550 --> 00:10:29.430 align:middle line:84% The wisdom of working with the grain, 00:10:29.430 --> 00:10:32.670 align:middle line:90% that every job must stop. 00:10:32.670 --> 00:10:36.000 align:middle line:84% Sad to say, his aptitude was minimal. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.210 align:middle line:84% His interest in the family business, nil. 00:10:39.210 --> 00:10:44.520 align:middle line:84% Instead, he read, brooded, roamed the wilderness alone. 00:10:44.520 --> 00:10:49.320 align:middle line:84% A sensitive boy, and bright, but looking for god knows what. 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.240 align:middle line:90% I don't. 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.540 align:middle line:84% Frankly, it worried the wife a while. 00:10:54.540 --> 00:10:56.970 align:middle line:90% Frankly, it worried me, too. 00:10:56.970 --> 00:10:59.430 align:middle line:84% Though isn't that just the way of the young, 00:10:59.430 --> 00:11:01.980 align:middle line:84% needing to figure it out on their own? 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:05.370 align:middle line:84% Anything beating the old man's shoes. 00:11:05.370 --> 00:11:09.000 align:middle line:84% Times were changing fast, it's true. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:12.510 align:middle line:90% Timber was scarcer, money tight. 00:11:12.510 --> 00:11:16.530 align:middle line:84% So why not a future in fasting and prayer? 00:11:16.530 --> 00:11:19.140 align:middle line:84% No chip off this block, the kid could be right. 00:11:19.140 --> 00:11:27.723 align:middle line:90% 00:11:27.723 --> 00:11:31.100 align:middle line:84% The speaker in this poem is Barabbas, 00:11:31.100 --> 00:11:39.170 align:middle line:84% who, of course, was pardoned by acclamation of the masses, 00:11:39.170 --> 00:11:41.300 align:middle line:84% rather than Christ being pardoned. 00:11:41.300 --> 00:11:46.328 align:middle line:84% And Christ got crucified, and Barabbas did this. 00:11:46.328 --> 00:11:48.290 align:middle line:84% This poem is called The Insurrectionist 00:11:48.290 --> 00:11:52.010 align:middle line:84% which, in the King James edition of the Bible, 00:11:52.010 --> 00:11:57.770 align:middle line:84% is the official crime that Barabbas was convicted of. 00:11:57.770 --> 00:12:00.740 align:middle line:90% The Insurrectionist. 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:04.640 align:middle line:84% I copped a plea, was permitted to go free for reasons 00:12:04.640 --> 00:12:07.880 align:middle line:90% I did not care to understand. 00:12:07.880 --> 00:12:11.060 align:middle line:84% I, who murdered, maimed, molested, 00:12:11.060 --> 00:12:14.090 align:middle line:84% had a hand in every pocket in the province, 00:12:14.090 --> 00:12:18.920 align:middle line:84% walked, then ran like spillage fast away from that place 00:12:18.920 --> 00:12:22.340 align:middle line:84% of trial by trumpery and traducement, 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:26.840 align:middle line:84% cast no backward glance at the man made to take up his cross 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:31.700 align:middle line:84% and dance the clumsy two-step of the frame. 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:34.160 align:middle line:84% What was his name, whose crime was 00:12:34.160 --> 00:12:38.810 align:middle line:84% talk and a certain predilection for self-bemusement? 00:12:38.810 --> 00:12:42.920 align:middle line:84% And what was the bounty worth ratting him out? 00:12:42.920 --> 00:12:45.500 align:middle line:84% In the short spell we shared a cell, 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:49.490 align:middle line:84% I got to know him not at all, except in the way 00:12:49.490 --> 00:12:53.210 align:middle line:84% one gets to know the doomed for what they are. 00:12:53.210 --> 00:12:56.480 align:middle line:84% The unintelligible mutterings that dripped from their lips 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.570 align:middle line:84% like soup scud, how their eyes roll 00:12:59.570 --> 00:13:02.480 align:middle line:84% back as if to stare at some mural painted 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.750 align:middle line:90% on the inside of the skull. 00:13:05.750 --> 00:13:10.610 align:middle line:84% No, it wasn't fair that I, who had a rap sheet a cubit long 00:13:10.610 --> 00:13:12.920 align:middle line:84% and not a prayer of rehabilitation, 00:13:12.920 --> 00:13:16.220 align:middle line:84% should skate on that date when custom required 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:19.310 align:middle line:84% of the public one gesture of mercy, however 00:13:19.310 --> 00:13:22.730 align:middle line:90% forced or ill-advised. 00:13:22.730 --> 00:13:25.190 align:middle line:84% Nor was it long before the authorities 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:29.600 align:middle line:84% realized their mistake, to make of a mild man 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.150 align:middle line:84% a martyr, then a legend that would 00:13:32.150 --> 00:13:36.470 align:middle line:84% sink its teeth into the very throat of history. 00:13:36.470 --> 00:13:37.670 align:middle line:90% And me? 00:13:37.670 --> 00:13:41.900 align:middle line:84% I got back to business as usual, but with a newfound respect 00:13:41.900 --> 00:13:45.860 align:middle line:84% for participatory democracy and a genuine fondness 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:51.110 align:middle line:84% for a system of justice which may be blind, but is not dumb. 00:13:51.110 --> 00:13:54.380 align:middle line:84% Give us Barabbas, bleated the sheep. 00:13:54.380 --> 00:13:56.330 align:middle line:84% Got what they asked for, and then some. 00:13:56.330 --> 00:14:02.470 align:middle line:90% 00:14:02.470 --> 00:14:04.413 align:middle line:84% A character, a biblical character, 00:14:04.413 --> 00:14:05.830 align:middle line:84% I've always been sort of intrigued 00:14:05.830 --> 00:14:10.840 align:middle line:84% by for a number of reasons is the wife of Lot, Lot's wife. 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:15.110 align:middle line:84% One of those reasons being that her name is Lot's wife. 00:14:15.110 --> 00:14:16.810 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:14:16.810 --> 00:14:18.790 align:middle line:90% She has no name beyond that. 00:14:18.790 --> 00:14:21.130 align:middle line:84% And she is the character who, of course, 00:14:21.130 --> 00:14:24.430 align:middle line:90% when Lot is warned to flee-- 00:14:24.430 --> 00:14:26.020 align:middle line:84% I can't remember if he was dwelling 00:14:26.020 --> 00:14:28.900 align:middle line:84% at the time in Sodom or Gomorrah when 00:14:28.900 --> 00:14:32.710 align:middle line:84% he was instructed by, ostensibly, angels 00:14:32.710 --> 00:14:34.150 align:middle line:90% in a public place to do so. 00:14:34.150 --> 00:14:38.590 align:middle line:84% And he did it, dragging his wife along. 00:14:38.590 --> 00:14:41.560 align:middle line:84% She is reported to have looked back. 00:14:41.560 --> 00:14:44.380 align:middle line:84% The crime of memory, it occurs to me, in some ways, 00:14:44.380 --> 00:14:46.510 align:middle line:84% to have looked back and then to have 00:14:46.510 --> 00:14:53.050 align:middle line:84% been turned to a pillar of salt. Maybe yes, maybe no. 00:14:53.050 --> 00:14:56.930 align:middle line:90% This poem is The Wife. 00:14:56.930 --> 00:14:59.300 align:middle line:84% When we were leaving the city, I was 00:14:59.300 --> 00:15:04.310 align:middle line:84% nagged by a feeling of having somehow forgotten something, 00:15:04.310 --> 00:15:07.280 align:middle line:84% a small but persistent itching somewhere 00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:09.710 align:middle line:84% in the middle of the back of the brain 00:15:09.710 --> 00:15:13.370 align:middle line:84% where memory couldn't reach a finger to scratch it, 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:15.980 align:middle line:84% and where, if I'd had eyes there, 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:20.090 align:middle line:84% I would have seen what it was I wasn't to return to and about 00:15:20.090 --> 00:15:24.180 align:middle line:84% which now there seemed nothing I could do. 00:15:24.180 --> 00:15:29.480 align:middle line:84% You know, a door unlocked, a candle unsnuffed, 00:15:29.480 --> 00:15:34.460 align:middle line:84% some thing or one to which I hadn't said goodbye. 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:38.180 align:middle line:84% I, who knew better than most the trials of marriage 00:15:38.180 --> 00:15:42.770 align:middle line:84% to a trusting man, one who was wont to consult freely 00:15:42.770 --> 00:15:46.820 align:middle line:84% with angels and strangers alike, and who believed, 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:50.600 align:middle line:84% oh, gullible darling, the least likely of rumors 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:53.480 align:middle line:84% murmured in taverns, and who was given 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.550 align:middle line:90% to panic and visions of doom. 00:15:57.550 --> 00:16:01.060 align:middle line:84% Soon enough, we would have found a room in a different city 00:16:01.060 --> 00:16:04.360 align:middle line:84% with a different name, found ourselves 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:07.060 align:middle line:84% amid new friends with whom we could complain 00:16:07.060 --> 00:16:09.550 align:middle line:84% about the blasphemy and evils that 00:16:09.550 --> 00:16:13.600 align:middle line:84% walk the streets of the world like sullen immigrants. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.670 align:middle line:90% And it would be the same. 00:16:15.670 --> 00:16:18.580 align:middle line:84% It would be time's way of recording and playing 00:16:18.580 --> 00:16:21.700 align:middle line:84% itself back ad infinitum, the good 00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:24.490 align:middle line:90% of which I just couldn't see. 00:16:24.490 --> 00:16:28.930 align:middle line:84% No matter that it would have been an easy enough, a wifely, 00:16:28.930 --> 00:16:32.230 align:middle line:84% thing to do for the man I loved and even honored, 00:16:32.230 --> 00:16:36.280 align:middle line:84% but whom I could not finally obey. 00:16:36.280 --> 00:16:39.760 align:middle line:84% To this day, I pray he never learns what 00:16:39.760 --> 00:16:42.700 align:middle line:84% but for his blind obedience and trust 00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:45.760 align:middle line:84% would have been obvious all along. 00:16:45.760 --> 00:16:50.530 align:middle line:84% I simply walked away, turned back to a city 00:16:50.530 --> 00:16:55.030 align:middle line:84% with a home and a family that needed looking after. 00:16:55.030 --> 00:16:58.360 align:middle line:84% Such was my lot, for which I was unnamed. 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:05.710 align:middle line:90% 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:08.920 align:middle line:84% Well, the speaker in this poem is King David, 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:12.369 align:middle line:84% but this is before he'd been promoted to King. 00:17:12.369 --> 00:17:16.119 align:middle line:84% And this is when he was still a psalmist, which 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:17.008 align:middle line:90% I guess he was-- 00:17:17.008 --> 00:17:18.550 align:middle line:84% I can't remember if he was a psalmist 00:17:18.550 --> 00:17:20.008 align:middle line:84% while he was a shepherd, or if that 00:17:20.008 --> 00:17:22.000 align:middle line:84% was kind of a mid-level management position 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.609 align:middle line:90% that he had for a time. 00:17:24.609 --> 00:17:27.280 align:middle line:84% But there's kind of a gimmick to this poem, 00:17:27.280 --> 00:17:30.070 align:middle line:84% and that's that-- some of you may have seen these. 00:17:30.070 --> 00:17:32.950 align:middle line:84% You can find them in the back of Rolling Stone magazine, 00:17:32.950 --> 00:17:36.910 align:middle line:84% and you can see them sometimes in poetry magazines 00:17:36.910 --> 00:17:39.070 align:middle line:84% and creative writing journals, where 00:17:39.070 --> 00:17:40.660 align:middle line:84% people claim that they will pay you 00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:44.860 align:middle line:84% money for your original poems and song lyrics that 00:17:44.860 --> 00:17:46.900 align:middle line:90% might be set to music. 00:17:46.900 --> 00:17:49.840 align:middle line:84% Well, this is David speaking, and the poem 00:17:49.840 --> 00:17:53.240 align:middle line:90% is called The Psalmist. 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:57.320 align:middle line:84% The ad on the scroll said, wanted, your original song 00:17:57.320 --> 00:18:00.110 align:middle line:84% lyrics and poems to set to music. 00:18:00.110 --> 00:18:03.050 align:middle line:84% Established firm representing legendary artists 00:18:03.050 --> 00:18:06.740 align:middle line:84% seeks new talent for possible collaboration. 00:18:06.740 --> 00:18:10.650 align:middle line:90% Over 2000 years in the industry. 00:18:10.650 --> 00:18:13.520 align:middle line:84% So I sent in the application card, which 00:18:13.520 --> 00:18:15.650 align:middle line:84% guaranteed me professional assessment 00:18:15.650 --> 00:18:20.510 align:middle line:84% of my work, for which I would be charged a modest fee refundable 00:18:20.510 --> 00:18:23.300 align:middle line:84% in full so long as the work was accepted, 00:18:23.300 --> 00:18:26.330 align:middle line:84% recorded, entered the charts with a bullet, 00:18:26.330 --> 00:18:29.930 align:middle line:84% went gold, went platinum with overseas sales, 00:18:29.930 --> 00:18:32.630 align:middle line:90% garnered the artist a Grammy. 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:36.620 align:middle line:84% See, I was a simple man with limited prospects. 00:18:36.620 --> 00:18:40.820 align:middle line:84% A hillbilly, really, who didn't know a psalm from a sow. 00:18:40.820 --> 00:18:44.990 align:middle line:84% Like my daddy, I worked hard in the field, living on cold pack 00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:47.930 align:middle line:84% and sleeping at night with the animals. 00:18:47.930 --> 00:18:50.240 align:middle line:84% But right along, I had these dreams 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.570 align:middle line:84% of a better life where I would dwell in a custom home 00:18:53.570 --> 00:18:55.280 align:middle line:90% with indoor plumbing. 00:18:55.280 --> 00:18:59.120 align:middle line:84% My cup full, a table prepared, all those 00:18:59.120 --> 00:19:03.590 align:middle line:84% wonders I had seen once in a catalog in an outhouse. 00:19:03.590 --> 00:19:05.960 align:middle line:84% So I sent in this country thing I 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:09.740 align:middle line:84% had written about green pastures, valleys, goodness 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:11.120 align:middle line:90% and such. 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:13.760 align:middle line:84% Not much, but it came from the heart, 00:19:13.760 --> 00:19:15.740 align:middle line:84% and I guess some people could relate, 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:19.250 align:middle line:84% because the rest, you know, is history. 00:19:19.250 --> 00:19:22.610 align:middle line:84% I was chosen, and it could happen to you. 00:19:22.610 --> 00:19:24.770 align:middle line:90% But you must act fast. 00:19:24.770 --> 00:19:27.230 align:middle line:84% Please sign and return immediately. 00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:29.660 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:35.990 align:middle line:90% 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:40.100 align:middle line:84% The speaker of this poem sort of is and is not Moses. 00:19:40.100 --> 00:19:43.430 align:middle line:84% He's sort of a contemporary version of Moses, I suppose. 00:19:43.430 --> 00:19:48.890 align:middle line:84% And Moses is another biblical character 00:19:48.890 --> 00:19:51.920 align:middle line:84% who's always intrigued me for a number of reasons, one of which 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:57.090 align:middle line:84% is that, of course, having led the tribe of Israel, 00:19:57.090 --> 00:20:02.270 align:middle line:84% the chosen people, for 40 years through the wilderness 00:20:02.270 --> 00:20:06.230 align:middle line:84% to the promised land, he was then not permitted to enter. 00:20:06.230 --> 00:20:09.140 align:middle line:90% Like, it didn't seem fair. 00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:11.870 align:middle line:84% And that, I guess, was apparently 00:20:11.870 --> 00:20:15.920 align:middle line:84% for when he received the commandments on stone from God 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:18.770 align:middle line:84% and took them down to the tribe and discovered 00:20:18.770 --> 00:20:22.280 align:middle line:84% they had built another graven image 00:20:22.280 --> 00:20:26.000 align:middle line:90% in his absence, those idiots. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.260 align:middle line:90% He broke the law. 00:20:27.260 --> 00:20:31.437 align:middle line:90% 00:20:31.437 --> 00:20:32.270 align:middle line:90% I was also curious-- 00:20:32.270 --> 00:20:33.770 align:middle line:84% I thought about this after the fact, 00:20:33.770 --> 00:20:36.140 align:middle line:84% but I think I was thinking of Newt Gingrich's plans 00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:39.950 align:middle line:90% for orphans in this poem, too. 00:20:39.950 --> 00:20:41.720 align:middle line:90% This poem is called The Prophet. 00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:45.350 align:middle line:84% It also has a line near the end which I think I made up, 00:20:45.350 --> 00:20:48.710 align:middle line:84% but it sounds like something I've heard. 00:20:48.710 --> 00:20:50.780 align:middle line:90% I mean, somebody made it up. 00:20:50.780 --> 00:20:53.270 align:middle line:90% The Prophet. 00:20:53.270 --> 00:20:55.460 align:middle line:84% I was taught that the body is home 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:59.480 align:middle line:84% to the father, whose house has many rooms, like the Poetry 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:00.222 align:middle line:90% Center. 00:21:00.222 --> 00:21:01.370 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:21:01.370 --> 00:21:03.590 align:middle line:84% But also that whosoever would dwell 00:21:03.590 --> 00:21:07.520 align:middle line:84% in the house of the father must abandon the body. 00:21:07.520 --> 00:21:10.220 align:middle line:90% Frankly, I was confused. 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:12.920 align:middle line:84% Frankly, I couldn't see where that followed anything 00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:17.240 align:middle line:84% like a logical conclusion the metaphor was headed. 00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:20.870 align:middle line:84% Not home, unless home is a funhouse of trick mirrors 00:21:20.870 --> 00:21:23.330 align:middle line:84% and tilted floors where things appear 00:21:23.330 --> 00:21:28.340 align:middle line:84% to roll uphill and the doors are tinier than you suspected. 00:21:28.340 --> 00:21:31.970 align:middle line:84% Still, I pledged, if selected, to head the holy commission 00:21:31.970 --> 00:21:35.690 align:middle line:84% on relocation, to find the blueprints to the promised 00:21:35.690 --> 00:21:39.410 align:middle line:84% abode where we should all be admitted like lucky orphans. 00:21:39.410 --> 00:21:42.170 align:middle line:84% Pledged to inspect the wiring and the plumbing 00:21:42.170 --> 00:21:45.470 align:middle line:84% and see if things were up to code. 00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:48.650 align:middle line:84% For a long time, longer than Moses, 00:21:48.650 --> 00:21:53.090 align:middle line:84% I roamed through many strange lands and foreign dreams, 00:21:53.090 --> 00:21:55.670 align:middle line:84% rode the bus through many bad neighborhoods 00:21:55.670 --> 00:21:58.100 align:middle line:84% in search of the place I could almost 00:21:58.100 --> 00:22:01.490 align:middle line:90% taste the memory of in advance. 00:22:01.490 --> 00:22:05.750 align:middle line:84% What chance did I have, lacking faith or a roadmap? 00:22:05.750 --> 00:22:10.190 align:middle line:84% And what sad idols had been erected in my absence? 00:22:10.190 --> 00:22:14.120 align:middle line:84% The past tense gets you only so far. 00:22:14.120 --> 00:22:18.620 align:middle line:84% What I needed was a car with a full tank, a little Jesus 00:22:18.620 --> 00:22:22.550 align:middle line:84% on the dashboard, the radio dialed to an all night gospel 00:22:22.550 --> 00:22:23.990 align:middle line:90% station. 00:22:23.990 --> 00:22:27.650 align:middle line:84% What I needed was a nation of Sunday Go To Meeting neighbors 00:22:27.650 --> 00:22:30.590 align:middle line:84% to tail through the wilderness of streets, strip 00:22:30.590 --> 00:22:33.350 align:middle line:84% malls, and unmowed yards, to lead me 00:22:33.350 --> 00:22:36.140 align:middle line:84% to the golden porch light shining down 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:38.510 align:middle line:90% upon the welcome mat. 00:22:38.510 --> 00:22:42.230 align:middle line:84% But it turns out, I was in charge. 00:22:42.230 --> 00:22:45.020 align:middle line:84% And it turns out, I didn't do half a bad job 00:22:45.020 --> 00:22:48.830 align:middle line:84% for someone who couldn't find shit with his ass. 00:22:48.830 --> 00:22:52.850 align:middle line:84% I was lost, but finally found the way home, into which 00:22:52.850 --> 00:22:54.335 align:middle line:90% I am now not permitted to pass. 00:22:54.335 --> 00:23:02.600 align:middle line:90% 00:23:02.600 --> 00:23:08.840 align:middle line:84% An ascetic is a particular brand of religious zealot 00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:15.350 align:middle line:84% who attempts to attain grace via the mortification of the flesh 00:23:15.350 --> 00:23:18.290 align:middle line:84% by wearing hair shirts, by having 00:23:18.290 --> 00:23:23.462 align:middle line:84% pebbles and rocks in their shoes, by whipping themselves. 00:23:23.462 --> 00:23:24.920 align:middle line:84% And it occurred to me that it might 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:29.960 align:middle line:84% be interesting to have sort of a contemporary, suburban ascetic 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:31.220 align:middle line:90% speak. 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:32.870 align:middle line:84% So that's what this character is. 00:23:32.870 --> 00:23:35.240 align:middle line:90% This is The Ascetic. 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:38.930 align:middle line:84% It begins with, actually, a Henny Youngman bit. 00:23:38.930 --> 00:23:41.120 align:middle line:84% It's like the old joke where you go to the doctor 00:23:41.120 --> 00:23:44.520 align:middle line:84% and say, doctor, it hurts when I do this. 00:23:44.520 --> 00:23:47.810 align:middle line:84% And the doctor says, don't do that. 00:23:47.810 --> 00:23:50.600 align:middle line:90% Only this is no joke. 00:23:50.600 --> 00:23:53.510 align:middle line:84% This is the way I'm learning to pray ceaselessly 00:23:53.510 --> 00:23:56.810 align:middle line:84% to the God of mind your manners, learning 00:23:56.810 --> 00:24:01.400 align:middle line:84% to trim the fat of the flesh from the meat of the soul. 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:03.140 align:middle line:84% Like any good butcher, I'm getting 00:24:03.140 --> 00:24:05.360 align:middle line:84% to know the intimate details of anatomy 00:24:05.360 --> 00:24:08.720 align:middle line:90% and the value of a sharp knife. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:13.100 align:middle line:84% In my former life, I worshipped comfort and, if not joy, 00:24:13.100 --> 00:24:16.220 align:middle line:90% certainly the absence of pain. 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:19.220 align:middle line:84% I could borrow, say, the spiritual equivalent 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:22.520 align:middle line:84% of a cup of sugar from the squeals of the contestants 00:24:22.520 --> 00:24:25.070 align:middle line:90% on Wheel of Fortune. 00:24:25.070 --> 00:24:28.400 align:middle line:84% I could sink into the naga hide of the La-Z-Boy recliner 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:31.670 align:middle line:84% so deeply sometimes, it seemed some miracle 00:24:31.670 --> 00:24:35.270 align:middle line:84% of transubstantiation, seemed I had 00:24:35.270 --> 00:24:38.420 align:middle line:84% become the recliner in the way that those Cheetos 00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:43.310 align:middle line:84% I had eaten earlier as a bedtime snack had become, inexplicably, 00:24:43.310 --> 00:24:45.020 align:middle line:90% me. 00:24:45.020 --> 00:24:50.840 align:middle line:84% So La-Z-Boy, Cheetos, game show of the brain, 00:24:50.840 --> 00:24:53.720 align:middle line:84% trinity to which I sacrificed nothing 00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:56.780 align:middle line:84% because it was not required, and because I 00:24:56.780 --> 00:24:59.120 align:middle line:84% was permitted to dream of the holy cities, 00:24:59.120 --> 00:25:02.870 align:middle line:84% of the Princess cruise line and the Epcot Center into which, 00:25:02.870 --> 00:25:06.290 align:middle line:90% one day, I might be received. 00:25:06.290 --> 00:25:09.530 align:middle line:90% But this was false prophecy. 00:25:09.530 --> 00:25:14.510 align:middle line:84% This was the trick the fox played on the hare, a tar baby 00:25:14.510 --> 00:25:18.300 align:middle line:84% La-Z-Boy theology into which you could sink so deeply, 00:25:18.300 --> 00:25:20.120 align:middle line:84% you'll never get out without giving up 00:25:20.120 --> 00:25:23.300 align:middle line:90% a little fur, a little hide. 00:25:23.300 --> 00:25:26.210 align:middle line:84% And that is why I abide these bottle 00:25:26.210 --> 00:25:29.180 align:middle line:84% caps in the bottoms of my slippers, 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:31.460 align:middle line:84% this frayed electrical extension cord 00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:37.760 align:middle line:84% wound tightly around my chest, the ice cubes I swallow whole. 00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:42.260 align:middle line:84% And that is how what began as a joke can end in a prayer, where 00:25:42.260 --> 00:25:47.030 align:middle line:84% you go to the Lord and say, Lord, it hurts when I do this. 00:25:47.030 --> 00:25:49.130 align:middle line:90% And the Lord says, good. 00:25:49.130 --> 00:25:52.328 align:middle line:90% 00:25:52.328 --> 00:25:53.120 align:middle line:90% I think that's all. 00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:53.966 align:middle line:90% Thanks. 00:25:53.966 --> 00:25:56.396 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:25:56.396 --> 00:26:06.610 align:middle line:90% 00:26:06.610 --> 00:26:09.550 align:middle line:84% I'll confess, when we invited these two authors, 00:26:09.550 --> 00:26:11.590 align:middle line:84% we thought what they had in common 00:26:11.590 --> 00:26:14.770 align:middle line:84% was that they were both faculty members 00:26:14.770 --> 00:26:18.460 align:middle line:84% in our sibling institutions, Jim being at NAU 00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:23.110 align:middle line:84% and Jewell being a new faculty member at ASU in Tempe. 00:26:23.110 --> 00:26:25.450 align:middle line:84% I don't think we realized, because we didn't know 00:26:25.450 --> 00:26:30.340 align:middle line:84% Jim's new work, that they were both engaged 00:26:30.340 --> 00:26:37.030 align:middle line:84% with some stunning tellings or retellings of the stories 00:26:37.030 --> 00:26:38.905 align:middle line:90% of American religion. 00:26:38.905 --> 00:26:43.450 align:middle line:84% [LAUGHS] The stories as they are rarely told. 00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:45.820 align:middle line:84% Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author 00:26:45.820 --> 00:26:48.640 align:middle line:84% of Voodoo Dreams, her first novel, which was 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:51.310 align:middle line:90% published by St Martin's Press. 00:26:51.310 --> 00:26:55.000 align:middle line:84% It was selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover New Authors 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.640 align:middle line:84% series and received a rare diamond 00:26:57.640 --> 00:27:01.330 align:middle line:84% from Kirkus Reviews and a star from Booklist. 00:27:01.330 --> 00:27:05.020 align:middle line:84% In addition to being a fiction writer, she's also a scholar 00:27:05.020 --> 00:27:08.080 align:middle line:84% and has been the co-author of numerous textbooks 00:27:08.080 --> 00:27:12.190 align:middle line:84% for the DC Heath middle level literary series. 00:27:12.190 --> 00:27:14.830 align:middle line:84% And she has a story that will be coming out, 00:27:14.830 --> 00:27:18.010 align:middle line:84% or may be out by now already, in Best Short Stories 00:27:18.010 --> 00:27:21.760 align:middle line:84% by Black Writers published by Little Brown. 00:27:21.760 --> 00:27:24.220 align:middle line:84% We're delighted that she's become part of our family 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:24.910 align:middle line:90% in Arizona. 00:27:24.910 --> 00:27:27.040 align:middle line:84% Please welcome Jewell Parker Rhodes. 00:27:27.040 --> 00:27:29.525 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:27:29.525 --> 00:27:34.000 align:middle line:90% 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:35.030 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:27:35.030 --> 00:27:39.190 align:middle line:84% It's a pleasure to be here for the Poetry Center, pleasure 00:27:39.190 --> 00:27:40.665 align:middle line:90% to read with Jim. 00:27:40.665 --> 00:27:42.415 align:middle line:84% We're going to take this show on the road. 00:27:42.415 --> 00:27:45.340 align:middle line:90% 00:27:45.340 --> 00:27:51.220 align:middle line:84% Voodoo Dreams concerns Marie Laveau, a 19th century Voodoo 00:27:51.220 --> 00:27:54.100 align:middle line:84% queen who ended up being the most powerful woman 00:27:54.100 --> 00:27:57.130 align:middle line:90% of her day in New Orleans. 00:27:57.130 --> 00:27:59.620 align:middle line:90% I'm going to read two scenes. 00:27:59.620 --> 00:28:06.520 align:middle line:84% One is when Marie is 10, and the vision, the African snake 00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:09.400 align:middle line:90% god Damballah, is visiting her. 00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:11.800 align:middle line:84% But she lives in the bayou with her grandmother, who 00:28:11.800 --> 00:28:15.220 align:middle line:84% has kept her from her history, who's kept her from knowledge 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:17.650 align:middle line:84% of the faith, who's indoctrinated her 00:28:17.650 --> 00:28:20.290 align:middle line:84% with Catholicism and hasn't told her 00:28:20.290 --> 00:28:22.720 align:middle line:84% the secret of her mother, who was crucified 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.340 align:middle line:90% for practicing Voodoo ritual. 00:28:24.340 --> 00:28:31.160 align:middle line:90% 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:33.860 align:middle line:90% "We're mixed bloods." 00:28:33.860 --> 00:28:37.400 align:middle line:84% The voice was melodic as Grandmere stooped, pressing 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:40.340 align:middle line:90% their faces side to side. 00:28:40.340 --> 00:28:45.350 align:middle line:84% "Creoles veined from the line of French royalty, 00:28:45.350 --> 00:28:49.610 align:middle line:84% mulattoes veined from the line of an African queen, 00:28:49.610 --> 00:28:55.550 align:middle line:84% and Muskogean warrior veined to make the stew wield power." 00:28:55.550 --> 00:28:59.390 align:middle line:84% Grandmere stood, her arms akimbo, her chubby cheeks 00:28:59.390 --> 00:29:01.460 align:middle line:90% breaking into a grin. 00:29:01.460 --> 00:29:04.040 align:middle line:90% "Happy birthday, ma petite." 00:29:04.040 --> 00:29:08.690 align:middle line:84% Marie squirmed, for beyond Grandmere's, she 00:29:08.690 --> 00:29:11.450 align:middle line:84% couldn't connect any faces to the blood. 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:14.690 align:middle line:84% She'd never seen African or French royalty. 00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:18.200 align:middle line:84% Indians flitted past occasionally on hunts. 00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:22.520 align:middle line:84% Once each year, she felt an unusual loneliness. 00:29:22.520 --> 00:29:24.230 align:middle line:90% "What's the matter, ma petite?" 00:29:24.230 --> 00:29:25.880 align:middle line:90% Bushy brows met. 00:29:25.880 --> 00:29:29.030 align:middle line:84% "Don't you feel well this birthday morning?" 00:29:29.030 --> 00:29:30.950 align:middle line:90% Grandmere's hand reached out. 00:29:30.950 --> 00:29:32.750 align:middle line:90% "You got fever?" 00:29:32.750 --> 00:29:35.480 align:middle line:84% Dodging her rough hand, Marie slipped deeper 00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:37.070 align:middle line:90% between the sheets. 00:29:37.070 --> 00:29:39.620 align:middle line:90% "Go away," she muttered. 00:29:39.620 --> 00:29:41.510 align:middle line:90% "Leave me alone." 00:29:41.510 --> 00:29:43.400 align:middle line:90% Grandmere snorted. 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:48.320 align:middle line:84% "You feel the sun streaming in here, God's sun? 00:29:48.320 --> 00:29:53.150 align:middle line:84% Don't you know how special it is to feel the sun and be free?" 00:29:53.150 --> 00:29:55.550 align:middle line:90% Marie rolled her eyes. 00:29:55.550 --> 00:29:58.760 align:middle line:84% Grandmere was always insisting that she be grateful 00:29:58.760 --> 00:30:02.900 align:middle line:84% for things, yet it bothered her that the only face she knew 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:05.150 align:middle line:90% well was Grandmere's. 00:30:05.150 --> 00:30:09.770 align:middle line:84% "I used to slave in master's kitchen, even on birthdays. 00:30:09.770 --> 00:30:11.990 align:middle line:90% Hot, not enough air. 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:12.920 align:middle line:90% Work. 00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:15.650 align:middle line:90% Slicing, stirring, hauling. 00:30:15.650 --> 00:30:17.900 align:middle line:90% Always work." 00:30:17.900 --> 00:30:20.180 align:middle line:90% "You told me before." 00:30:20.180 --> 00:30:22.040 align:middle line:90% "So I did." 00:30:22.040 --> 00:30:23.960 align:middle line:90% Their gazes held. 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:27.140 align:middle line:84% Grandmere lifted the rosary attached to her skirt 00:30:27.140 --> 00:30:30.740 align:middle line:84% and scratched the crucifix across her thumb. 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:35.210 align:middle line:84% "Yet you always seem to forget that in this land, 00:30:35.210 --> 00:30:38.090 align:middle line:84% you're the first of the line to be free." 00:30:38.090 --> 00:30:41.360 align:middle line:84% There was a thin, rising welt of blood. 00:30:41.360 --> 00:30:44.180 align:middle line:90% "Three generations of slaves." 00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:47.300 align:middle line:84% Grandmere sucked the juice from her thumb. 00:30:47.300 --> 00:30:48.890 align:middle line:90% "Mixed bloods. 00:30:48.890 --> 00:30:51.050 align:middle line:90% Our history and power." 00:30:51.050 --> 00:30:53.330 align:middle line:90% Red speckled the coverlet. 00:30:53.330 --> 00:30:57.720 align:middle line:90% "The blood is alive, always." 00:30:57.720 --> 00:31:01.380 align:middle line:84% For hours, Marie had stared at the squiggly veins 00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:04.830 align:middle line:84% in her hands, trying to imagine where the crazy quilt of blood 00:31:04.830 --> 00:31:06.060 align:middle line:90% all went. 00:31:06.060 --> 00:31:08.880 align:middle line:84% In the mirror, she couldn't see Creole or mulatto. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:12.090 align:middle line:84% When she pinched skin, she couldn't feel Indian stirring 00:31:12.090 --> 00:31:13.230 align:middle line:90% in her blood. 00:31:13.230 --> 00:31:16.830 align:middle line:84% Tales of slavery were as distant as Grandmere's Bible 00:31:16.830 --> 00:31:18.400 align:middle line:90% characters. 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:20.700 align:middle line:84% "Why do you mope," Grandmere demanded. 00:31:20.700 --> 00:31:22.590 align:middle line:90% "You should laugh and sing. 00:31:22.590 --> 00:31:26.560 align:middle line:84% Why do you ruin such a lovely celebration day?" 00:31:26.560 --> 00:31:29.850 align:middle line:84% Marie knew everything, yet nothing, about herself. 00:31:29.850 --> 00:31:32.410 align:middle line:90% Being mixed blood didn't matter. 00:31:32.410 --> 00:31:35.670 align:middle line:84% It was what Grandmere didn't say that did. 00:31:35.670 --> 00:31:38.550 align:middle line:84% Her most important question, the one 00:31:38.550 --> 00:31:43.140 align:middle line:84% she prayed to the Virgin about, still lurked behind her eyes. 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:45.850 align:middle line:90% History was faceless. 00:31:45.850 --> 00:31:50.890 align:middle line:84% On her 10th birthday, Grandmere clanged pots, boiled rice, 00:31:50.890 --> 00:31:54.250 align:middle line:84% and ruined the beans by adding too much pepper. 00:31:54.250 --> 00:31:58.420 align:middle line:84% On her 10th birthday, Marie waited for a sign. 00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:01.750 align:middle line:84% All day, she waited for something magical to happen. 00:32:01.750 --> 00:32:05.030 align:middle line:84% And when it did, they were on the front porch. 00:32:05.030 --> 00:32:07.030 align:middle line:84% The moon glowed yellow, and Marie 00:32:07.030 --> 00:32:10.990 align:middle line:84% commented how fireflies gleam-blinked 00:32:10.990 --> 00:32:14.850 align:middle line:90% like crazed lanterns in the sky. 00:32:14.850 --> 00:32:16.520 align:middle line:90% "So now you speak. 00:32:16.520 --> 00:32:19.220 align:middle line:84% Silly child's got a tongue after all." 00:32:19.220 --> 00:32:22.310 align:middle line:84% Grandmere leaned forward, swatting the air. 00:32:22.310 --> 00:32:24.350 align:middle line:90% "Damn fireflies. 00:32:24.350 --> 00:32:27.530 align:middle line:84% They're burning up their lives' blood." 00:32:27.530 --> 00:32:29.930 align:middle line:90% "Oh," she exhaled. 00:32:29.930 --> 00:32:32.390 align:middle line:84% "Then why do they do it, Grandmere? 00:32:32.390 --> 00:32:34.130 align:middle line:90% What for?" 00:32:34.130 --> 00:32:36.560 align:middle line:90% "Ain't got no sense is all." 00:32:36.560 --> 00:32:39.950 align:middle line:84% "Like Maman," she asked, her head jerking up. 00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:42.440 align:middle line:84% But it was more of a statement than a question. 00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:44.870 align:middle line:84% She had heard this before, heard it, 00:32:44.870 --> 00:32:46.880 align:middle line:84% her body curled tight while shadows 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:49.790 align:middle line:84% fluttered across her bed as two women fought. 00:32:49.790 --> 00:32:53.540 align:middle line:84% They fought until the front door slammed and one was gone. 00:32:53.540 --> 00:32:55.730 align:middle line:84% Somehow, she knew that the two women fighting 00:32:55.730 --> 00:32:57.500 align:middle line:90% were Maman and Grandmere. 00:32:57.500 --> 00:33:00.470 align:middle line:84% It was Maman who had no sense, Maman who 00:33:00.470 --> 00:33:02.060 align:middle line:90% was burning up her life blood. 00:33:02.060 --> 00:33:05.750 align:middle line:84% But instead of asking where or why Maman wasn't there, 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:09.690 align:middle line:84% she asked what she always needed to ask. 00:33:09.690 --> 00:33:12.820 align:middle line:90% "Do I look like my Maman?" 00:33:12.820 --> 00:33:14.950 align:middle line:90% Grandmere stopped rocking. 00:33:14.950 --> 00:33:16.900 align:middle line:90% Her hands and lips trembled. 00:33:16.900 --> 00:33:19.780 align:middle line:84% Her body grew rigid like Medusa's stone. 00:33:19.780 --> 00:33:23.020 align:middle line:84% Frightened, Marie wanted to take back her question. 00:33:23.020 --> 00:33:27.430 align:middle line:84% She'd been told never to ask about Maman, and until tonight, 00:33:27.430 --> 00:33:30.520 align:middle line:90% until a firefly, she hadn't. 00:33:30.520 --> 00:33:33.100 align:middle line:84% She stole toward Grandmere, purring 00:33:33.100 --> 00:33:35.320 align:middle line:90% against the old, soft bosom. 00:33:35.320 --> 00:33:38.020 align:middle line:84% Grandmere didn't hug or caress her. 00:33:38.020 --> 00:33:42.220 align:middle line:84% Instead, she said flatly, "lots of God's creatures 00:33:42.220 --> 00:33:44.700 align:middle line:90% have no sense." 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:47.910 align:middle line:84% Marie leapt down the steps trying to catch fireflies. 00:33:47.910 --> 00:33:51.660 align:middle line:84% She caught one and found the erratic glow surprisingly cool. 00:33:51.660 --> 00:33:53.670 align:middle line:90% "Marie, you come back here." 00:33:53.670 --> 00:33:55.650 align:middle line:84% She snipped off the lighted abdomen. 00:33:55.650 --> 00:33:57.270 align:middle line:90% There was no red blood. 00:33:57.270 --> 00:33:59.580 align:middle line:84% After she threw away the head and the wings, 00:33:59.580 --> 00:34:01.200 align:middle line:90% the light stuck to her palm. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.780 align:middle line:84% She snapped her wrist, shook her hand, 00:34:03.780 --> 00:34:06.450 align:middle line:84% and finally wept as her nail, like a knife, 00:34:06.450 --> 00:34:09.360 align:middle line:84% scraped the double-ribbed flesh onto the ground. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:10.320 align:middle line:90% "Marie." 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:12.929 align:middle line:84% Grandmere's shrill call rebounded. 00:34:12.929 --> 00:34:17.610 align:middle line:84% She ran, her hair flapping at the back of her knees. 00:34:17.610 --> 00:34:19.170 align:middle line:90% The moon was full. 00:34:19.170 --> 00:34:21.270 align:middle line:84% She pushed through willows, feeling 00:34:21.270 --> 00:34:24.120 align:middle line:84% her head would burst, tumble off her shoulders, 00:34:24.120 --> 00:34:26.130 align:middle line:90% and roll into the grass. 00:34:26.130 --> 00:34:30.750 align:middle line:84% Grandmere talked about the blood being alive, but never 00:34:30.750 --> 00:34:32.320 align:middle line:90% about people. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:36.090 align:middle line:84% Wasn't Maman flowing beneath her skin? 00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:39.210 align:middle line:84% She plopped down on a petrified stump. 00:34:39.210 --> 00:34:42.210 align:middle line:84% At its base was a snakeskin, the shell 00:34:42.210 --> 00:34:44.340 align:middle line:90% curled as if it were alive. 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:47.310 align:middle line:84% She rested her head in her hands. 00:34:47.310 --> 00:34:50.969 align:middle line:84% Breath bounced from her hands to her face. 00:34:50.969 --> 00:34:55.170 align:middle line:84% Grandmere said she'd been born with a caul, a skin netting 00:34:55.170 --> 00:34:57.330 align:middle line:90% that almost suffocated her. 00:34:57.330 --> 00:35:00.750 align:middle line:84% Feeling her twice-warm breath, she 00:35:00.750 --> 00:35:05.940 align:middle line:84% knew what it felt like as a baby, drowning in her own air. 00:35:05.940 --> 00:35:09.180 align:middle line:84% Gasping, she snatched her hands down. 00:35:09.180 --> 00:35:12.330 align:middle line:90% Rainbows swirled in her palms. 00:35:12.330 --> 00:35:15.240 align:middle line:84% A kaleidoscope of blue, red, and yellow 00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:17.550 align:middle line:90% danced, shifting into forms. 00:35:17.550 --> 00:35:20.460 align:middle line:84% She saw herself, bloody, slipping out 00:35:20.460 --> 00:35:23.160 align:middle line:84% of her mother's body, and Grandmere's frantic fingers 00:35:23.160 --> 00:35:24.720 align:middle line:90% ripping the caul away. 00:35:24.720 --> 00:35:27.690 align:middle line:84% Crying out, she clapped her hands. 00:35:27.690 --> 00:35:29.740 align:middle line:90% This wasn't a dream. 00:35:29.740 --> 00:35:31.350 align:middle line:90% It was something else. 00:35:31.350 --> 00:35:33.330 align:middle line:90% Did Grandmere see them, too? 00:35:33.330 --> 00:35:36.060 align:middle line:84% She skipped down the bank like a ghost. 00:35:36.060 --> 00:35:39.060 align:middle line:84% And Maman, whom she'd been forbidden to speak about. 00:35:39.060 --> 00:35:41.460 align:middle line:90% Did she see them, too? 00:35:41.460 --> 00:35:44.940 align:middle line:84% Air pockets bubbled the swamp's surface. 00:35:44.940 --> 00:35:48.210 align:middle line:84% Her stomach quivered against the damp ground. 00:35:48.210 --> 00:35:51.630 align:middle line:84% She couldn't feel herself breathing 00:35:51.630 --> 00:35:55.080 align:middle line:84% or hear the piercing call of an owl. 00:35:55.080 --> 00:35:58.680 align:middle line:84% Marie touched a hand to the water, then snatched it back. 00:35:58.680 --> 00:36:01.200 align:middle line:84% Colors sprung from her fingertips. 00:36:01.200 --> 00:36:04.020 align:middle line:84% A snakelike form rippled the surface. 00:36:04.020 --> 00:36:08.310 align:middle line:84% Then she wasn't sure, for the water became a mirror, 00:36:08.310 --> 00:36:12.750 align:middle line:84% and she saw her own pursed lips and stricken gaze. 00:36:12.750 --> 00:36:16.770 align:middle line:84% Tentatively, she touched the stream again. 00:36:16.770 --> 00:36:18.900 align:middle line:90% The surface glazed. 00:36:18.900 --> 00:36:20.220 align:middle line:90% Three bodies. 00:36:20.220 --> 00:36:21.540 align:middle line:90% Three women. 00:36:21.540 --> 00:36:23.970 align:middle line:90% Grandmere was stretched as dead. 00:36:23.970 --> 00:36:27.090 align:middle line:84% Another woman was crucified on a tree, her face 00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:29.550 align:middle line:84% and breasts pressed against the rotting wood. 00:36:29.550 --> 00:36:31.260 align:middle line:90% Scars lashed her back. 00:36:31.260 --> 00:36:32.220 align:middle line:90% Maman? 00:36:32.220 --> 00:36:35.490 align:middle line:84% And she saw herself older, rising out 00:36:35.490 --> 00:36:38.070 align:middle line:84% of the lake, three lighted candles waxed 00:36:38.070 --> 00:36:39.720 align:middle line:90% to her head and palms. 00:36:39.720 --> 00:36:41.130 align:middle line:90% The vision held. 00:36:41.130 --> 00:36:42.480 align:middle line:90% Then it changed. 00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:43.650 align:middle line:90% Four. 00:36:43.650 --> 00:36:46.950 align:middle line:84% A baby girl sucked at her teat while chubby fingers 00:36:46.950 --> 00:36:50.490 align:middle line:90% grasped the candle's flame. 00:36:50.490 --> 00:36:55.430 align:middle line:84% There was a rush of sights and sounds. 00:36:55.430 --> 00:36:58.370 align:middle line:84% She saw an eel in the muddy water. 00:36:58.370 --> 00:37:02.300 align:middle line:84% A single cricket sounded like 10,000. 00:37:02.300 --> 00:37:07.520 align:middle line:84% Marie felt a whoosh of air cracking through her lungs. 00:37:07.520 --> 00:37:09.980 align:middle line:90% A snapping twig startled her. 00:37:09.980 --> 00:37:12.920 align:middle line:84% She turned, thinking it was Grandmere. 00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:16.010 align:middle line:90% "Grandmere, I've seen things. 00:37:16.010 --> 00:37:18.180 align:middle line:90% Strange things." 00:37:18.180 --> 00:37:20.210 align:middle line:90% But it wasn't Grandmere. 00:37:20.210 --> 00:37:25.250 align:middle line:84% Marie saw a man so black, he blended into the skyline. 00:37:25.250 --> 00:37:28.580 align:middle line:84% There was a ruggedness to him, and odd scars 00:37:28.580 --> 00:37:31.250 align:middle line:84% raised from his forehead into his chin. 00:37:31.250 --> 00:37:33.410 align:middle line:84% She tried to scream as he hunched down 00:37:33.410 --> 00:37:36.620 align:middle line:84% toward her, sprinkling her with narcissus blooms. 00:37:36.620 --> 00:37:40.010 align:middle line:84% He smelled of ash and withered leaves. 00:37:40.010 --> 00:37:43.820 align:middle line:84% Marie closed her eyes, hoping this vision, too, 00:37:43.820 --> 00:37:45.810 align:middle line:90% would disappear. 00:37:45.810 --> 00:37:51.230 align:middle line:84% But his fingers smoothed her shut lids, caressed her cheeks, 00:37:51.230 --> 00:37:55.560 align:middle line:84% then gently teased the dark cores of her breasts. 00:37:55.560 --> 00:37:57.980 align:middle line:90% Her eyes flew open. 00:37:57.980 --> 00:38:00.830 align:middle line:90% "Who are you?" 00:38:00.830 --> 00:38:02.650 align:middle line:90% "Father. 00:38:02.650 --> 00:38:04.110 align:middle line:90% Husband. 00:38:04.110 --> 00:38:06.480 align:middle line:90% Son." 00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:09.600 align:middle line:84% He cupped the valley between her thighs, 00:38:09.600 --> 00:38:12.540 align:middle line:84% rubbing her in slow, even movements. 00:38:12.540 --> 00:38:14.010 align:middle line:90% She sighed. 00:38:14.010 --> 00:38:17.670 align:middle line:84% A sticky dampness blended with her bloomers. 00:38:17.670 --> 00:38:22.500 align:middle line:84% He laughed, and without knowing why, she felt ashamed. 00:38:22.500 --> 00:38:27.270 align:middle line:84% His lips covered hers, sucking the air out of her mouth. 00:38:27.270 --> 00:38:30.810 align:middle line:84% It felt like the time when she was sucked up by the swamp. 00:38:30.810 --> 00:38:33.300 align:middle line:84% Grandmere had rescued her, fingering the mud 00:38:33.300 --> 00:38:35.280 align:middle line:90% from her nose and throat. 00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:38.880 align:middle line:90% She felt painfully alive. 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:42.870 align:middle line:90% "Grow, ma petite." 00:38:42.870 --> 00:38:45.330 align:middle line:90% Her fist punched through air. 00:38:45.330 --> 00:38:47.010 align:middle line:90% He caught it. 00:38:47.010 --> 00:38:50.310 align:middle line:84% If he wanted, he could shatter her hand, 00:38:50.310 --> 00:38:53.990 align:middle line:90% break her skinny arm in two. 00:38:53.990 --> 00:38:58.520 align:middle line:90% "Hurry and grow," he said. 00:38:58.520 --> 00:39:02.280 align:middle line:90% She swore she never would. 00:39:02.280 --> 00:39:04.080 align:middle line:90% Then he was gone. 00:39:04.080 --> 00:39:07.080 align:middle line:90% Stars formed new patterns. 00:39:07.080 --> 00:39:10.760 align:middle line:90% Her troubled breathing slowed. 00:39:10.760 --> 00:39:14.750 align:middle line:84% Awakening, Marie was startled to find the moon was dying. 00:39:14.750 --> 00:39:18.230 align:middle line:84% Wiping away flowers, she raced through the jungle forest. 00:39:18.230 --> 00:39:19.520 align:middle line:90% Had anything happened? 00:39:19.520 --> 00:39:21.440 align:middle line:90% Somewhere, a dog barked. 00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:25.580 align:middle line:84% Or had she been tricked by non-memories, sleepy dreams? 00:39:25.580 --> 00:39:27.890 align:middle line:90% Sweat layered her skin. 00:39:27.890 --> 00:39:31.340 align:middle line:84% Grandmere sat in the rocker, her jaw slack. 00:39:31.340 --> 00:39:34.820 align:middle line:84% Marie wanted to fling herself into her arms, 00:39:34.820 --> 00:39:38.510 align:middle line:84% but then she remembered Grandmere was angry at her. 00:39:38.510 --> 00:39:40.820 align:middle line:84% Hadn't she run when Grandmere called? 00:39:40.820 --> 00:39:42.860 align:middle line:90% Hadn't she mentioned Maman? 00:39:42.860 --> 00:39:46.670 align:middle line:84% So she held her breath and crept like a Seminole. 00:39:46.670 --> 00:39:48.620 align:middle line:90% The first step creaked. 00:39:48.620 --> 00:39:50.870 align:middle line:90% Grandmere didn't stir. 00:39:50.870 --> 00:39:53.240 align:middle line:84% When her hand pressed the doorknob, 00:39:53.240 --> 00:39:59.930 align:middle line:84% Grandmere roused and said, "no sense trying to fool me." 00:39:59.930 --> 00:40:01.160 align:middle line:90% "I wasn't." 00:40:01.160 --> 00:40:03.230 align:middle line:90% "Don't lie," she said harshly. 00:40:03.230 --> 00:40:04.530 align:middle line:90% "Where have you been?" 00:40:04.530 --> 00:40:05.270 align:middle line:90% "Woods." 00:40:05.270 --> 00:40:07.370 align:middle line:90% "What did you see?" 00:40:07.370 --> 00:40:11.360 align:middle line:84% Marie longed to tell her everything, 00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:13.640 align:middle line:84% but shifting from foot to foot, she 00:40:13.640 --> 00:40:16.340 align:middle line:84% knew as surely as she knew fireflies 00:40:16.340 --> 00:40:18.530 align:middle line:84% didn't spill any blood, Grandmere 00:40:18.530 --> 00:40:21.140 align:middle line:90% didn't want to know the answer. 00:40:21.140 --> 00:40:24.210 align:middle line:90% "Nothing," she murmured. 00:40:24.210 --> 00:40:25.770 align:middle line:90% "Come here, child." 00:40:25.770 --> 00:40:29.430 align:middle line:84% She ran, and fat arms surrounded her. 00:40:29.430 --> 00:40:32.490 align:middle line:84% Grandmere smoothed her freckled nose. 00:40:32.490 --> 00:40:34.290 align:middle line:90% "You smell sweetly." 00:40:34.290 --> 00:40:36.540 align:middle line:90% "Flowers," she said hurriedly. 00:40:36.540 --> 00:40:38.520 align:middle line:90% "I picked them for you." 00:40:38.520 --> 00:40:40.920 align:middle line:84% "Then where are they, ma petite?" 00:40:40.920 --> 00:40:42.540 align:middle line:90% "I left them." 00:40:42.540 --> 00:40:45.960 align:middle line:84% Never before had she told such lies, 00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:48.210 align:middle line:84% but it was all Grandmere's fault. 00:40:48.210 --> 00:40:49.860 align:middle line:84% It was Grandmere who she couldn't 00:40:49.860 --> 00:40:53.550 align:middle line:84% tell about the man, whom she couldn't ask about Maman. 00:40:53.550 --> 00:40:56.310 align:middle line:84% She scrunched her lips into a pout. 00:40:56.310 --> 00:41:00.180 align:middle line:84% Grandmere hummed a note which tore inside her, sharpening 00:41:00.180 --> 00:41:08.920 align:middle line:84% her guilt. "No need to hurry and grow," Grandmere sang. 00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:10.870 align:middle line:84% Then, abruptly, she rocked forward 00:41:10.870 --> 00:41:14.080 align:middle line:90% and asked, "are you hungry?" 00:41:14.080 --> 00:41:17.380 align:middle line:84% Marie nodded and scrambled onto the waiting lap. 00:41:17.380 --> 00:41:20.740 align:middle line:84% She burrowed her head into a rose-scented skin. 00:41:20.740 --> 00:41:24.530 align:middle line:84% Chuckling, Grandmere added, "my stew's too hot. 00:41:24.530 --> 00:41:26.410 align:middle line:90% It'll burn your tongue off. 00:41:26.410 --> 00:41:28.660 align:middle line:90% What can we have that's better?" 00:41:28.660 --> 00:41:32.170 align:middle line:84% "Pig's ears, please," her voice squeaked, 00:41:32.170 --> 00:41:36.180 align:middle line:84% excited by tasting curly-shaped pastries. 00:41:36.180 --> 00:41:41.100 align:middle line:84% And Grandmere smiled so lovingly that Marie 00:41:41.100 --> 00:41:46.450 align:middle line:84% swore that to please her, she would forget everything, forget 00:41:46.450 --> 00:41:47.350 align:middle line:90% turning 10. 00:41:47.350 --> 00:41:57.120 align:middle line:90% 00:41:57.120 --> 00:42:03.762 align:middle line:84% The next scene-- where'd the water go? 00:42:03.762 --> 00:42:04.262 align:middle line:90% Hmm? 00:42:04.262 --> 00:42:04.762 align:middle line:90% Behind you. 00:42:04.762 --> 00:42:05.370 align:middle line:90% Behind me. 00:42:05.370 --> 00:42:06.210 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:42:06.210 --> 00:42:06.990 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:42:06.990 --> 00:42:12.990 align:middle line:90% 00:42:12.990 --> 00:42:15.970 align:middle line:84% The next scene, a great deal has happened to Marie Laveau. 00:42:15.970 --> 00:42:19.130 align:middle line:90% 00:42:19.130 --> 00:42:22.190 align:middle line:84% But this is a scene of perhaps her greatest miracle, one 00:42:22.190 --> 00:42:25.670 align:middle line:84% that's recorded in the Daily Picayune 00:42:25.670 --> 00:42:28.580 align:middle line:84% about her ceremony on Lake Pontchartrain. 00:42:28.580 --> 00:42:33.290 align:middle line:84% And in this scene, John, the man who met her in the bayou, 00:42:33.290 --> 00:42:36.530 align:middle line:84% has really lived up to the title of nemesis 00:42:36.530 --> 00:42:39.860 align:middle line:84% and believes that her power as a woman, as a voodooienne 00:42:39.860 --> 00:42:41.720 align:middle line:90% is somehow his. 00:42:41.720 --> 00:42:44.510 align:middle line:84% So in this ceremony, we'll hear a reference 00:42:44.510 --> 00:42:47.270 align:middle line:84% to John, Nattie, a woman who's jealous 00:42:47.270 --> 00:42:50.390 align:middle line:84% of Marie's power, Ribaud, the drummer who 00:42:50.390 --> 00:42:54.140 align:middle line:84% calls the spirits to Marie, and to Louis DeLavier, 00:42:54.140 --> 00:42:57.050 align:middle line:84% a white journalist who loves Marie. 00:42:57.050 --> 00:42:58.970 align:middle line:90% And the love is unrequited. 00:42:58.970 --> 00:43:04.580 align:middle line:84% And Grandmere, in this scene, is actually elsewhere, dying. 00:43:04.580 --> 00:43:07.730 align:middle line:90% Now, pretend it's late. 00:43:07.730 --> 00:43:13.160 align:middle line:84% A ceremony has been going on for hours, a very unauthentic 00:43:13.160 --> 00:43:16.670 align:middle line:84% Voodoo ceremony, and you're trying to reach, 00:43:16.670 --> 00:43:19.025 align:middle line:90% as Marie is, a state of grace. 00:43:19.025 --> 00:43:24.710 align:middle line:90% 00:43:24.710 --> 00:43:30.810 align:middle line:90% Marie felt a sense of unreality. 00:43:30.810 --> 00:43:33.980 align:middle line:90% Everything was theatrical. 00:43:33.980 --> 00:43:39.990 align:middle line:84% In each ceremony, she had to fight her way to spirituality. 00:43:39.990 --> 00:43:45.450 align:middle line:84% She fought for some sense that her life wasn't corrupted. 00:43:45.450 --> 00:43:49.830 align:middle line:84% There was a Voodoo that existed beyond John's interpretation 00:43:49.830 --> 00:43:52.050 align:middle line:90% and influence. 00:43:52.050 --> 00:43:55.410 align:middle line:84% The sand was soaking up red blood. 00:43:55.410 --> 00:43:59.760 align:middle line:84% Marie moved through the weaving dancers and toward the altar. 00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:04.170 align:middle line:84% She laid her head down on Damballah's image, no longer 00:44:04.170 --> 00:44:06.210 align:middle line:90% a crude charcoal drawing. 00:44:06.210 --> 00:44:09.330 align:middle line:84% The snake was fashioned with gaudy oil colors. 00:44:09.330 --> 00:44:13.980 align:middle line:84% Behind the painting was the real snake, her python, 00:44:13.980 --> 00:44:19.170 align:middle line:84% spiraling around itself as quiet as a lull during a winter 00:44:19.170 --> 00:44:20.880 align:middle line:90% storm. 00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:23.270 align:middle line:90% Marie prayed. 00:44:23.270 --> 00:44:26.370 align:middle line:90% "Make me special. 00:44:26.370 --> 00:44:31.640 align:middle line:84% Make this world of mine better, bearable." 00:44:31.640 --> 00:44:33.620 align:middle line:84% She always worried what would happen 00:44:33.620 --> 00:44:35.660 align:middle line:90% if Damballah didn't come. 00:44:35.660 --> 00:44:39.170 align:middle line:84% She'd be like Nattie, John, bereft. 00:44:39.170 --> 00:44:41.090 align:middle line:90% She compressed her lips. 00:44:41.090 --> 00:44:43.400 align:middle line:84% Why should Damballah bother to come? 00:44:43.400 --> 00:44:46.940 align:middle line:84% She cried, spilling tears onto the altar. 00:44:46.940 --> 00:44:49.130 align:middle line:90% She was the weakest woman. 00:44:49.130 --> 00:44:50.900 align:middle line:90% She failed love. 00:44:50.900 --> 00:44:54.350 align:middle line:84% She couldn't even hate John properly. 00:44:54.350 --> 00:44:56.966 align:middle line:90% Minutes seemed like hours. 00:44:56.966 --> 00:45:00.740 align:middle line:84% If Damballah didn't come, what would she do? 00:45:00.740 --> 00:45:04.340 align:middle line:84% Marie concentrated on the drums, pressing 00:45:04.340 --> 00:45:08.090 align:middle line:84% the painting of Damballah close to her heart. 00:45:08.090 --> 00:45:11.480 align:middle line:84% The Python had unfurled itself and inched forward. 00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:16.150 align:middle line:84% Marie pressed her lips against its cool skin. 00:45:16.150 --> 00:45:17.590 align:middle line:90% "Forgive me." 00:45:17.590 --> 00:45:20.440 align:middle line:90% Her body was drenched in sweat. 00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:22.450 align:middle line:90% "Feed my spirit." 00:45:22.450 --> 00:45:24.580 align:middle line:84% On the edge of consciousness, she 00:45:24.580 --> 00:45:28.000 align:middle line:84% could feel a flicker of something, someone. 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:32.160 align:middle line:90% She moaned, slumping forward. 00:45:32.160 --> 00:45:37.260 align:middle line:84% The crowd stilled abruptly, delayed reverence. 00:45:37.260 --> 00:45:41.820 align:middle line:84% They watched as Marie stood, unsteady at first, 00:45:41.820 --> 00:45:46.110 align:middle line:84% then confident in each step as she moved from center stage 00:45:46.110 --> 00:45:48.120 align:middle line:90% and walked toward the lake. 00:45:48.120 --> 00:45:51.780 align:middle line:84% She walked as water swirled about her ankles, 00:45:51.780 --> 00:45:53.610 align:middle line:90% drenched her skirt and knees. 00:45:53.610 --> 00:45:55.650 align:middle line:84% When the water was waist high, she 00:45:55.650 --> 00:45:59.190 align:middle line:84% paused and bowed her head as if in prayer 00:45:59.190 --> 00:46:03.180 align:middle line:84% before diving into the chilly blue water 00:46:03.180 --> 00:46:06.810 align:middle line:84% and disappearing into its depths. 00:46:06.810 --> 00:46:09.750 align:middle line:84% The crowd broke past the guards and roped areas and spread 00:46:09.750 --> 00:46:13.020 align:middle line:84% along the shoreline, trying to sight her. 00:46:13.020 --> 00:46:15.180 align:middle line:84% The crowd wailed, and the drums fell-- 00:46:15.180 --> 00:46:22.300 align:middle line:90% 00:46:22.300 --> 00:46:22.900 align:middle line:90% --dead. 00:46:22.900 --> 00:46:25.720 align:middle line:84% The audience was bewildered, uncertain. 00:46:25.720 --> 00:46:28.820 align:middle line:84% John was up to his chest in water. 00:46:28.820 --> 00:46:31.000 align:middle line:84% "She's a witch," crowed one of the priests. 00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:32.440 align:middle line:90% "Her body should float." 00:46:32.440 --> 00:46:34.900 align:middle line:90% John raged, kicking at waves. 00:46:34.900 --> 00:46:36.670 align:middle line:90% Marie was dead, he thought. 00:46:36.670 --> 00:46:38.560 align:middle line:90% A suicide to spite him. 00:46:38.560 --> 00:46:40.000 align:middle line:90% "A devil," said another. 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:42.190 align:middle line:84% "I knew she'd come to no good end." 00:46:42.190 --> 00:46:46.300 align:middle line:90% Ribaud smacked the man's mouth. 00:46:46.300 --> 00:46:51.160 align:middle line:90% On shore, Nattie began a dirge. 00:46:51.160 --> 00:46:54.040 align:middle line:84% Like a rippling wave, the harmony 00:46:54.040 --> 00:46:56.140 align:middle line:90% flashed through the crowd. 00:46:56.140 --> 00:46:59.410 align:middle line:84% Slaves and faithful coloreds, gripped in an enchantment, 00:46:59.410 --> 00:47:05.300 align:middle line:90% sang, "my soul walks free. 00:47:05.300 --> 00:47:07.930 align:middle line:90% Death awaits me. 00:47:07.930 --> 00:47:11.510 align:middle line:90% Guédé, Guédé, have mercy. 00:47:11.510 --> 00:47:14.880 align:middle line:90% Don't let me lose my way." 00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:19.970 align:middle line:84% A reed-like soprano answered the musical phrase. 00:47:19.970 --> 00:47:22.640 align:middle line:90% "Oh, Mary, don't you weep. 00:47:22.640 --> 00:47:24.180 align:middle line:90% Don't you moan. 00:47:24.180 --> 00:47:28.190 align:middle line:84% One of these mornings, bright and fair, take my wings 00:47:28.190 --> 00:47:29.750 align:middle line:90% and cleave the air. 00:47:29.750 --> 00:47:32.330 align:middle line:90% Oh, Mary, don't you weep. 00:47:32.330 --> 00:47:34.610 align:middle line:90% Don't you moan." 00:47:34.610 --> 00:47:40.370 align:middle line:84% Dozens of slaves sang the reassuring Christian song. 00:47:40.370 --> 00:47:42.680 align:middle line:90% There was an afterlife. 00:47:42.680 --> 00:47:46.370 align:middle line:84% Christ, sacrificed on the cross, would rise again. 00:47:46.370 --> 00:47:48.440 align:middle line:90% So, too, would Marie. 00:47:48.440 --> 00:47:50.540 align:middle line:84% At first, the two competing songs 00:47:50.540 --> 00:47:52.370 align:middle line:84% cracked with a painful dissonance. 00:47:52.370 --> 00:47:55.430 align:middle line:84% But gradually, they became a rhythmic counterpoint, 00:47:55.430 --> 00:47:58.730 align:middle line:84% then blended into a new, powerful hymn. 00:47:58.730 --> 00:48:02.600 align:middle line:84% Those who didn't know the words sang vowels or hummed the music 00:48:02.600 --> 00:48:03.800 align:middle line:90% in their throats. 00:48:03.800 --> 00:48:05.900 align:middle line:90% Wails shook the sky. 00:48:05.900 --> 00:48:07.580 align:middle line:90% Stars fell. 00:48:07.580 --> 00:48:10.890 align:middle line:84% The song stretched to the ends of the Earth. 00:48:10.890 --> 00:48:13.640 align:middle line:90% Women fainted and men trembled. 00:48:13.640 --> 00:48:18.140 align:middle line:84% In New Orleans, residents quit whatever they were doing, 00:48:18.140 --> 00:48:23.270 align:middle line:84% sleeping, dancing, loving, claiming angels were crying. 00:48:23.270 --> 00:48:31.320 align:middle line:84% Seamen sailing far beyond the Carolinas thought sirens lured. 00:48:31.320 --> 00:48:35.700 align:middle line:84% And Grandmere stirred, vividly dreaming 00:48:35.700 --> 00:48:42.360 align:middle line:84% of her enslaved African maman, freed and guiding her home. 00:48:42.360 --> 00:48:48.520 align:middle line:84% In the mourning song, John heard his own impending death. 00:48:48.520 --> 00:48:50.980 align:middle line:90% Tears filled Ribaud's eyes. 00:48:50.980 --> 00:48:54.400 align:middle line:84% His Marie was dead, just like his pretty daughter. 00:48:54.400 --> 00:48:58.060 align:middle line:84% Nattie, in her funereal wail, felt both sorry and angry 00:48:58.060 --> 00:48:59.140 align:middle line:90% at herself. 00:48:59.140 --> 00:49:02.290 align:middle line:84% Through Marie, she'd hoped to find her blessed pathway 00:49:02.290 --> 00:49:03.460 align:middle line:90% to Damballah. 00:49:03.460 --> 00:49:05.950 align:middle line:90% She'd foolishly lost her chance. 00:49:05.950 --> 00:49:09.360 align:middle line:84% She'd never gone beyond jealousy. 00:49:09.360 --> 00:49:14.190 align:middle line:84% Louis DeLavier wanted forgiveness. 00:49:14.190 --> 00:49:16.350 align:middle line:84% When he'd first seen Marie enter the water, 00:49:16.350 --> 00:49:19.410 align:middle line:84% he'd begun beating his way to the forefront of the crowd. 00:49:19.410 --> 00:49:21.270 align:middle line:84% He'd ripped off his boots and jacket 00:49:21.270 --> 00:49:23.040 align:middle line:90% and run to the water's edge. 00:49:23.040 --> 00:49:26.340 align:middle line:84% He dived and nearly shouted from the shocking cold. 00:49:26.340 --> 00:49:29.970 align:middle line:84% He'd swum, crazed and erratic, calling Marie 00:49:29.970 --> 00:49:33.260 align:middle line:90% until his strength gave out. 00:49:33.260 --> 00:49:36.130 align:middle line:90% He hadn't seen any signs. 00:49:36.130 --> 00:49:42.070 align:middle line:84% No floating body, no piece of clothing rising to the surface. 00:49:42.070 --> 00:49:45.880 align:middle line:84% His lungs ached from successive dives 00:49:45.880 --> 00:49:47.905 align:middle line:84% beneath the dark and chilly water. 00:49:47.905 --> 00:49:53.820 align:middle line:90% 00:49:53.820 --> 00:50:01.150 align:middle line:84% Damballah had taken her to a quiet place. 00:50:01.150 --> 00:50:04.510 align:middle line:90% Marie felt cocooned. 00:50:04.510 --> 00:50:09.660 align:middle line:90% Damballah was her best lover. 00:50:09.660 --> 00:50:15.030 align:middle line:84% She felt secure, happy, rooted in an African tradition 00:50:15.030 --> 00:50:18.000 align:middle line:90% she sensed rather than knew. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:21.570 align:middle line:90% Damballah wanted to go to sea. 00:50:21.570 --> 00:50:25.890 align:middle line:84% She couldn't feel anything other than the desire to be immersed. 00:50:25.890 --> 00:50:28.380 align:middle line:90% She and Damballah dove. 00:50:28.380 --> 00:50:30.840 align:middle line:84% They were free, sinking low and deep. 00:50:30.840 --> 00:50:33.600 align:middle line:84% She breathed the thick, heady water. 00:50:33.600 --> 00:50:37.320 align:middle line:84% Damballah liked plankton tickling his belly. 00:50:37.320 --> 00:50:39.570 align:middle line:90% A school of fish swished by. 00:50:39.570 --> 00:50:42.120 align:middle line:84% Giggling, Mary stroked a turtle's back 00:50:42.120 --> 00:50:44.820 align:middle line:84% and kissed a sleepy-eyed catfish. 00:50:44.820 --> 00:50:48.400 align:middle line:84% The world was cool, vibrant with blues, greens, 00:50:48.400 --> 00:50:52.860 align:middle line:84% and specks of yellow and red in the gentle overwhelming 00:50:52.860 --> 00:50:54.750 align:middle line:90% darkness. 00:50:54.750 --> 00:51:00.350 align:middle line:84% They swam to the center of the lake and sat. 00:51:00.350 --> 00:51:05.750 align:middle line:84% Damballah was whispering from inside Marie's head. 00:51:05.750 --> 00:51:08.090 align:middle line:84% The language was strange, clicking and rhythmic, 00:51:08.090 --> 00:51:11.270 align:middle line:84% and Marie recognized it as an African dialect she'd heard 00:51:11.270 --> 00:51:13.640 align:middle line:90% among newly captured slaves. 00:51:13.640 --> 00:51:17.090 align:middle line:84% Gradually, she began to understand. 00:51:17.090 --> 00:51:20.990 align:middle line:84% "You belong to me," said Damballah. 00:51:20.990 --> 00:51:25.430 align:middle line:84% "You always have, and you always will." 00:51:25.430 --> 00:51:29.450 align:middle line:84% Agwé, the sea god, appeared, pulling a ship 00:51:29.450 --> 00:51:32.540 align:middle line:90% as big and as wide as a whale. 00:51:32.540 --> 00:51:36.470 align:middle line:84% Black people were on the ship, all different shades of Black. 00:51:36.470 --> 00:51:39.440 align:middle line:84% Some were slaves dressed in coarse cotton and chains. 00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:40.880 align:middle line:84% Others were free coloreds dressed 00:51:40.880 --> 00:51:42.590 align:middle line:90% as blacksmiths, shopkeepers. 00:51:42.590 --> 00:51:44.570 align:middle line:84% Others were lovely mulatto and quadroon 00:51:44.570 --> 00:51:48.230 align:middle line:84% girls dressed in ball gowns and silk tea dresses. 00:51:48.230 --> 00:51:50.600 align:middle line:90% All were beckoning Marie. 00:51:50.600 --> 00:51:55.010 align:middle line:84% Grandmere was in the stern, shouting, "home. 00:51:55.010 --> 00:51:58.190 align:middle line:90% Let's go home." 00:51:58.190 --> 00:52:00.740 align:middle line:90% "Home," said Damballah. 00:52:00.740 --> 00:52:04.460 align:middle line:84% And Marie was rushing forward, stumbling on the ocean bottom, 00:52:04.460 --> 00:52:07.400 align:middle line:84% slipping on shells, upsetting the pace of seahorses 00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:09.300 align:middle line:90% and schools of fish. 00:52:09.300 --> 00:52:10.310 align:middle line:90% "Marie." 00:52:10.310 --> 00:52:12.290 align:middle line:90% Grandmere was waving. 00:52:12.290 --> 00:52:15.830 align:middle line:90% Marie felt indescribable joy. 00:52:15.830 --> 00:52:18.140 align:middle line:84% Beside Grandmere, steering the rudder, 00:52:18.140 --> 00:52:22.250 align:middle line:84% was a majestic Black woman in brightly colored robes. 00:52:22.250 --> 00:52:25.130 align:middle line:90% "You are me," she said. 00:52:25.130 --> 00:52:29.390 align:middle line:84% On Grandmere's right with Maman, beckoning Marie aboard. 00:52:29.390 --> 00:52:34.250 align:middle line:84% And on the deck was a small child with long, black braids. 00:52:34.250 --> 00:52:39.470 align:middle line:84% "These are all of who you are," murmured Damballah. 00:52:39.470 --> 00:52:43.580 align:middle line:84% "Mixed blood, but your blood flows because 00:52:43.580 --> 00:52:48.740 align:middle line:84% of and through me, Damballah, the god of your ancestors. 00:52:48.740 --> 00:52:52.370 align:middle line:90% We sail toward Africa, home." 00:52:52.370 --> 00:52:56.720 align:middle line:84% The women and child formed a circle with Marie 00:52:56.720 --> 00:52:58.790 align:middle line:90% in the center, its heart. 00:52:58.790 --> 00:53:03.620 align:middle line:84% And around their circle, the other passengers formed circles 00:53:03.620 --> 00:53:08.510 align:middle line:84% around circles until they all clung together, weeping 00:53:08.510 --> 00:53:11.660 align:middle line:84% and singing and praising the core 00:53:11.660 --> 00:53:16.610 align:middle line:84% of their multiplying circle, Marie Laveau 00:53:16.610 --> 00:53:20.050 align:middle line:90% possessed by Damballah. 00:53:20.050 --> 00:53:22.970 align:middle line:84% The whale-like ship arrived home. 00:53:22.970 --> 00:53:26.620 align:middle line:84% Agwé, on his broad back, carried passengers ashore. 00:53:26.620 --> 00:53:30.430 align:middle line:84% Off the ship, everyone became a wandering, awestruck child 00:53:30.430 --> 00:53:31.330 align:middle line:90% again. 00:53:31.330 --> 00:53:32.800 align:middle line:90% Marie cried. 00:53:32.800 --> 00:53:35.680 align:middle line:90% Africa was Teché magnified. 00:53:35.680 --> 00:53:38.770 align:middle line:84% Every particle of her being felt reborn. 00:53:38.770 --> 00:53:42.160 align:middle line:84% Love was in the lush foliage, the caw-cawing of birds. 00:53:42.160 --> 00:53:44.440 align:middle line:84% Rebirth was in the fertile black soil 00:53:44.440 --> 00:53:46.900 align:middle line:84% and among animals poised in the shade 00:53:46.900 --> 00:53:49.370 align:middle line:90% and on the limbs of trees. 00:53:49.370 --> 00:53:53.270 align:middle line:90% "It's time," said Damballah. 00:53:53.270 --> 00:53:56.650 align:middle line:90% "No," Marie mouthed. 00:53:56.650 --> 00:53:58.850 align:middle line:90% "It's time." 00:53:58.850 --> 00:54:04.490 align:middle line:84% The landscape and people and animals became spirit. 00:54:04.490 --> 00:54:08.390 align:middle line:84% And through her eyes, the spirits flew into her soul. 00:54:08.390 --> 00:54:12.830 align:middle line:84% And she cried out at having so much history inside her. 00:54:12.830 --> 00:54:15.650 align:middle line:90% "This is who you are." 00:54:15.650 --> 00:54:18.530 align:middle line:84% At first, Marie thought it was Grandmere singing. 00:54:18.530 --> 00:54:21.950 align:middle line:84% Then she realized it was her own voice crooning. 00:54:21.950 --> 00:54:25.685 align:middle line:90% "This is who I am." 00:54:25.685 --> 00:54:30.640 align:middle line:84% Up she flew through ageless and ancient waters, 00:54:30.640 --> 00:54:33.070 align:middle line:90% bursting into the air. 00:54:33.070 --> 00:54:37.390 align:middle line:84% Marie was convinced she could pluck the moon. 00:54:37.390 --> 00:54:40.710 align:middle line:84% Then her body lowered to the surface. 00:54:40.710 --> 00:54:45.270 align:middle line:84% Damp, tangled hair clung to her face and back. 00:54:45.270 --> 00:54:48.600 align:middle line:84% Her yellow skirt and blouse outlined her curves, 00:54:48.600 --> 00:54:52.050 align:middle line:84% the soft swelling of her abdomen. 00:54:52.050 --> 00:54:58.530 align:middle line:84% She walked on the surface of the water as if it were earth. 00:54:58.530 --> 00:55:01.617 align:middle line:90% 00:55:01.617 --> 00:55:04.820 align:middle line:84% DeLavier, resting, floating on his back, 00:55:04.820 --> 00:55:07.160 align:middle line:84% was the first to see Marie up close. 00:55:07.160 --> 00:55:10.370 align:middle line:84% He flipped onto his stomach, disbelieving as she walked, 00:55:10.370 --> 00:55:13.100 align:middle line:84% her feet steady on the tips of waves. 00:55:13.100 --> 00:55:15.380 align:middle line:90% A rainbow guided her path. 00:55:15.380 --> 00:55:19.160 align:middle line:84% There was no hesitancy, no awe, only a sense 00:55:19.160 --> 00:55:22.760 align:middle line:84% of labored sadness, disappointment about her. 00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:25.100 align:middle line:90% Louis couldn't speak. 00:55:25.100 --> 00:55:28.230 align:middle line:84% Childhood prayers flooded his mind. 00:55:28.230 --> 00:55:31.160 align:middle line:84% "There has to be a God," he thought. 00:55:31.160 --> 00:55:34.970 align:middle line:84% Marie walked past him, focusing on her followers. 00:55:34.970 --> 00:55:38.120 align:middle line:84% In the water, Damballah had shown her 00:55:38.120 --> 00:55:42.500 align:middle line:84% how to reconnect herself to both the past and the future. 00:55:42.500 --> 00:55:46.490 align:middle line:84% Time spirals outward from the center, 00:55:46.490 --> 00:55:48.470 align:middle line:84% and the center was Damballah, who 00:55:48.470 --> 00:55:53.320 align:middle line:84% could make spirits and the spirit in her whole. 00:55:53.320 --> 00:55:58.660 align:middle line:84% And though there was still so very much to do and so very 00:55:58.660 --> 00:56:03.550 align:middle line:84% much to consider, though she felt tentative and insecure, 00:56:03.550 --> 00:56:07.640 align:middle line:84% Marie felt a new lightness of being. 00:56:07.640 --> 00:56:13.390 align:middle line:84% She wasn't a firefly, burning her own air. 00:56:13.390 --> 00:56:16.660 align:middle line:84% There was a light inside her, guiding her 00:56:16.660 --> 00:56:21.800 align:middle line:84% if she let it to peace and safety. 00:56:21.800 --> 00:56:25.790 align:middle line:84% The crowd cried out in amazement as they 00:56:25.790 --> 00:56:29.660 align:middle line:84% saw Marie walk across the lake toward them. 00:56:29.660 --> 00:56:34.970 align:middle line:84% The people fell to their knees, chanting. 00:56:34.970 --> 00:56:35.656 align:middle line:90% "Damballah. 00:56:35.656 --> 00:56:38.855 align:middle line:90% 00:56:38.855 --> 00:56:39.355 align:middle line:90% Miracle. 00:56:39.355 --> 00:56:42.400 align:middle line:90% 00:56:42.400 --> 00:56:43.280 align:middle line:90% Resurrection." 00:56:43.280 --> 00:56:50.370 align:middle line:90% 00:56:50.370 --> 00:56:53.120 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:56:53.120 --> 00:57:04.320 align:middle line:90%