WEBVTT

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"You are the grief ant, which
is to say that you are not only

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a grief ant, but
as far as ants go,

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and out of all the
other ants, you

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are the ant who responds with
the lowest levels of friction

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to my grief, my grief, my grief.

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Other ants have limbs and hands
of other shapes and sizes.

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You are the ant who will not
measure my goldfish grief

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against my first love
grief, against my,

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against my life partner grief
because you are the grief ant.

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If I had an ant payroll, if
ants collected themselves

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into payrolls instead of
other forms of collectives,

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you would be on it.

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Would have a wobbly place
secured forever as grief ant.

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But as the grief ant, you
do not expect payment.

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You simply are the grief ant.

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There are not many roles
available right now.

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There are very few open
ant positions these days.

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In fact, the only
recent openings

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of late, the ones that
had recognizable titles,

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and even these roles were
from very many years ago

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were ones like meat ant, the
ant who knew which cut of meat

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was the right one to choose
for whatever occasion,

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a role that is long
since ceased to exist.

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And then there was the
former lover leadership ant."

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[LAUGHS]

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Sorry.

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It just reminded me of the
person that inspired that role.

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[LAUGHS]

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"The former lover
leadership ant,

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the ant designated to preside
over the table of former lovers

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when the time came for
all the former lover

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ants to come together."

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I'm embarrassed now.

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[LAUGHS]

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"This role too,
no longer exists.

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But other than
that, there have not

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been very many occasions
that called for specific ants

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until all of a
sudden, here you are,

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grief ant who shows up in the
moment of need for a grief ant.

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My grief ant who
understands matters

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of scale with beauty and ease,
butterknife and right wild,

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from tiny speck of
dander to molten lava

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filled volcano of grief,
from a ringing sensation

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in the ear to the loudness
of a neighboring guffaw.

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You, you as my grief ant,
unfazed by the shiftiness,

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the mercurial communicative
bursts of ludicrous ant shake,

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can hold ants in a grieving,
quivering, ant shake as if just

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another plastic cup of boba.

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That would be you.

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Thanks be to grief
ants everywhere."

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Oh, I'm so relieved.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thank you.

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You're such a kind audience.

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I was relieved because
last time I read that poem,

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I completely lost it and cried.

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And then I didn't
realize I was going

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to get tripped up by the
former lover leadership ant.

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So that was that.