WEBVTT

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There are some animal
poems in that book,

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and I want to read one about
an animal that seldom gets

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anything good said about it.

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I lived in Mexico and
used to go to the movies,

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and fleas were very
important in the movie house.

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And the Indians had stories
about almost every animal,

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but I waited in vain to hear
an explanation of the fleas.

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So I eventually wrote a poem
called A Flea's Carrying Words.

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The Indians in that part
of Mexico in the mountains,

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I don't know whether
it's still true,

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but they carried everything.

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And then the men would
refer to themselves

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as a carrying man, meaning
somebody who carries things

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up and down the mountains.

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A flea is carrying
a bag of diseases.

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And he says as he goes
these I did not make myself.

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We don't all have
the same gifts.

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Beginning isn't everything.

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I don't even know who made them.

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I don't know who will use them.

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I don't use them myself.

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I just do what's in front
of me as I'm supposed to.

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I carry them.

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Nobody likes me.

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Nobody wants to change places
with me, but I don't mind.

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I get away, bag and all.

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Something needs me;
everything needs me.

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I need myself.

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And the fire is my father.

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