WEBVTT

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Next poem is a persona poem.

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And I've-- it's
rather presumptuous,

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it's through a Black woman
speaking who works as--

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well, one who's always
in the kitchen, I

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guess, and never gets out--

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a loss for words.

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Anyway, it's told through her.

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It takes place at a lake,
in Iowa of all places--

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Lake Okoboji.

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It's in the form of
a letter: A Letter

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From Sobrina To Her Daughter.

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"Water leaks from a
faucet, another day

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gray as an iron pot.

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Today I'll sharpen the knives,
a locust will buzz in my ear.

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If anyone should ask,
I don't feel alone.

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Each summer, I taste the cool
waters of the well out back.

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But just remember, I've
never sneaked a drink

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from anyone's cupboard.

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But I know thirst--

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always at the back of my mouth,
a seed in the wet ground.

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My children, you've gone on.

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Each hums a different tune.

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You're like the
old summer's metal,

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wood, rust, but mine, all mine.

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My ankles swell.

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I wash the dishes sitting down.

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And when I change
the sheets, I'm

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scared of dying in a
room with no windows,

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of suddenly being
taken up like an angel.

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At night, my empty
jars gather dust.

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I see the moon filling
the ditches where

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poor niggers slept, your father
coming home drunk, singing

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about his kids and crops.

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I'm getting along.

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My legs move to their own
music, flowing down streams.

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Banks line with minstrels who
play until the sun comes up.

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I'm a riverboat
packed with people

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who wave white handkerchiefs
to no one, no one at all.

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I'm traveling at
my own pace here

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where pine trees stay the
same height all summer long."

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