WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.960 align:middle line:90%


00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:03.990 align:middle line:84%
I'd like to thank everyone
for being here tonight.

00:00:03.990 --> 00:00:05.940 align:middle line:90%
Can everybody hear me?

00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:06.780 align:middle line:90%
OK.

00:00:06.780 --> 00:00:11.380 align:middle line:84%
And to thank the University
of Arizona for inviting me.

00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:13.780 align:middle line:90%
It's a pleasure to be here.

00:00:13.780 --> 00:00:21.775 align:middle line:84%
I'd like to begin by reading a
poem or two from my first book.

00:00:21.775 --> 00:00:23.400 align:middle line:84%
I'm sorry, I should
say my second book.

00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:24.942 align:middle line:84%
That first one was
a little chapbook.

00:00:24.942 --> 00:00:26.880 align:middle line:84%
I don't think of
it as a real book.

00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:30.150 align:middle line:84%
This is Dance Script with
Electric Ballerina is the book.

00:00:30.150 --> 00:00:32.759 align:middle line:84%
And the poem I'm
going to be reading

00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:38.550 align:middle line:84%
is one that deals with
childhood and coming of age

00:00:38.550 --> 00:00:39.930 align:middle line:90%
and a sense of legacy.

00:00:39.930 --> 00:00:43.470 align:middle line:90%


00:00:43.470 --> 00:00:47.460 align:middle line:84%
"The Great Aunts
of my Childhood."

00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:51.690 align:middle line:84%
Buns hardened like
pomanders at their napes.

00:00:51.690 --> 00:00:56.700 align:middle line:84%
Their famous good skin
is smocked like cloth.

00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:00.690 align:middle line:84%
Stained glass rings out
the light, and the old tub

00:01:00.690 --> 00:01:03.360 align:middle line:90%
claws the oil cloth.

00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:07.020 align:middle line:84%
Kit makes cups of
bitter cocoa or apricot

00:01:07.020 --> 00:01:10.320 align:middle line:90%
juice that furs my throat.

00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:14.070 align:middle line:84%
Mame dies quietly
in the bedroom.

00:01:14.070 --> 00:01:16.350 align:middle line:84%
She pressed the gold
watch into my hands,

00:01:16.350 --> 00:01:19.380 align:middle line:84%
wanted me to take her
middle name at confirmation.

00:01:19.380 --> 00:01:24.060 align:middle line:84%
Zita, saint of pots
and pans, but I chose

00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:27.210 align:middle line:90%
Teresa, the little flower.

00:01:27.210 --> 00:01:31.440 align:middle line:84%
A face in the saint's
book like a nosegay.

00:01:31.440 --> 00:01:33.240 align:middle line:90%
I chose this.

00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:38.880 align:middle line:84%
Blonde room, sprouting jade
plants, electric necessities,

00:01:38.880 --> 00:01:43.350 align:middle line:84%
and nights that turn my
nipples to cloves till dawn

00:01:43.350 --> 00:01:47.910 align:middle line:84%
pours in like wash
water to scrub the floor

00:01:47.910 --> 00:01:51.020 align:middle line:90%
with harsh yellow soap.

00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:52.000 align:middle line:90%