WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.630 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.630 --> 00:00:02.355 align:middle line:90% This is called "The Raptors." 00:00:02.355 --> 00:00:05.490 align:middle line:90% 00:00:05.490 --> 00:00:10.380 align:middle line:84% "I've seen them all over the city, after midnight, 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.500 align:middle line:84% near the consulate, closer to the streetlight 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:15.600 align:middle line:90% than you might expect-- 00:00:15.600 --> 00:00:21.540 align:middle line:84% a parked car, windows misted, wings for a trademark, 00:00:21.540 --> 00:00:24.930 align:middle line:84% and the muffled urgencies from the back seat-- 00:00:24.930 --> 00:00:29.100 align:middle line:84% someone about to die perhaps or be delivered-- 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:33.660 align:middle line:84% the sleek silhouette of a woman's legs, lifted and spread 00:00:33.660 --> 00:00:37.230 align:middle line:84% behind the fog glass, and between her legs, 00:00:37.230 --> 00:00:40.920 align:middle line:84% a slow moving, a denser kind of fog. 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.500 align:middle line:90% 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:45.750 align:middle line:84% Or outside the bus terminal, late 00:00:45.750 --> 00:00:51.330 align:middle line:84% in the day, at commuter peak, the sedan that sat illicitly 00:00:51.330 --> 00:00:55.440 align:middle line:84% by the crosswalk, the jowly man in the driver's seat 00:00:55.440 --> 00:00:58.980 align:middle line:84% going nowhere for now, head back, 00:00:58.980 --> 00:01:03.450 align:middle line:84% eyes closed, mouth open like a slaughtered pig's, 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:06.030 align:middle line:84% while his companion worked her blonde head 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:10.410 align:middle line:84% over his lap, and 1,000 people off work, 00:01:10.410 --> 00:01:15.120 align:middle line:84% too intent on getting home even to notice. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:18.810 align:middle line:84% But we never took that route, that strange craving to be 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:23.430 align:middle line:84% caught in the act, have others confirm our willingness 00:01:23.430 --> 00:01:28.590 align:middle line:84% to trust reasons that reason itself could never explain. 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:30.870 align:middle line:84% When she came to me, it was for moments 00:01:30.870 --> 00:01:35.040 align:middle line:84% she couldn't claim well enough on her own to keep, 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:37.980 align:middle line:84% and I took her to where the world endured, 00:01:37.980 --> 00:01:44.010 align:middle line:84% the elements held sway, the small town a temblor had ruined, 00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:48.510 align:middle line:84% blocks of exposed foundations that went deep, 00:01:48.510 --> 00:01:54.060 align:middle line:84% a houseboat, where twice a day, high tide kept us buoyant 00:01:54.060 --> 00:01:58.110 align:middle line:84% and the coastal road, with its blind turns that ended in air 00:01:58.110 --> 00:02:02.460 align:middle line:84% and dared us to keep going, to live that vista. 00:02:02.460 --> 00:02:06.000 align:middle line:84% Whatever we were looking for seemed to find us, 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.860 align:middle line:84% and the only ones to bear witness 00:02:07.860 --> 00:02:12.510 align:middle line:84% were a solitary egret, a yellow moon, the stripped naked-- 00:02:12.510 --> 00:02:15.740 align:middle line:84% the stripped naked limbs of eucalyptus. 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:18.300 align:middle line:90% 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:23.370 align:middle line:84% And once, off a high trail, after a warm rain, her face 00:02:23.370 --> 00:02:26.940 align:middle line:84% gleaming, eyes intent, nipples showing 00:02:26.940 --> 00:02:30.270 align:middle line:84% through her soaked blouse, she pressed me against a tree, 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:33.450 align:middle line:84% said, I like holding it in my hand, 00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:37.590 align:middle line:84% before she took me into her mouth, one rapt creature 00:02:37.590 --> 00:02:42.210 align:middle line:84% at fullest power, feeding on another. 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:45.450 align:middle line:84% And the pale mountain flowers, barely there pinks 00:02:45.450 --> 00:02:48.720 align:middle line:84% and blues, like colors for the unborn children we'd only 00:02:48.720 --> 00:02:52.530 align:middle line:84% dream about, these are what she drew all over her letters 00:02:52.530 --> 00:02:57.480 align:middle line:84% later, like another language altogether, as if words alone 00:02:57.480 --> 00:03:03.600 align:middle line:84% couldn't be trusted, couldn't do justice to that kind of need. 00:03:03.600 --> 00:03:07.560 align:middle line:84% While above us that day, as above us now, 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:12.240 align:middle line:84% lazing on their massive, recurring thermals, 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.900 align:middle line:84% the raptors, seemingly at play, but raking 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:18.720 align:middle line:84% the valley floor for anything alive 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:22.470 align:middle line:84% and there for the taking, anything worth killing for." 00:03:22.470 --> 00:03:26.012 align:middle line:90% 00:03:26.012 --> 00:03:27.720 align:middle line:84% Well, that got rid of a couple of people. 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:30.270 align:middle line:90% 00:03:30.270 --> 00:03:31.560 align:middle line:90% More oxygen for me. 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.470 align:middle line:90% 00:03:34.470 --> 00:03:37.848 align:middle line:84% Oh no, then others are coming in over here. 00:03:37.848 --> 00:03:38.640 align:middle line:90% All right, come on. 00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:39.000 align:middle line:90% Come on. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:39.500 align:middle line:90% Come on. 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:40.040 align:middle line:90% Sit down. 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:42.000 align:middle line:90% Let's go. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.090 align:middle line:90% Don't got all night.