WEBVTT

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This last poem I'm
going to read is

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by another friend of
mine, a poet named

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Mary Ruefle, a wonderful poet.

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This poem is called "Merengue."

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And merengue is a Brazilian
kind of samba-like dance

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with a strange beat.

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Maybe you can hear
the beat in the poem.

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"Merengue," Mary Ruefle--

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"I'm sorry to say it,
but fucking is nothing.

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To the gods, we look like dogs.

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Still, they watch.

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Did you lose your wallet?

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Did you rip up the photo?

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Did you pick up the baby
and kiss its forehead?

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Did you drive into a deer?

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Did you hack at the grass
as if it could kill you?

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Did you ask your
mother for milk?

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Did you light the candles?

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Did you count the
buttons on your shirt?

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Were you off by one?

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Did you start again?

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Did you learn how to cut a
pineapple, open a coconut?

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Did you carry a body
once it had died?

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For how long and how far?

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Did you do the merengue?

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Did you wave at the train?

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Did you finish the puzzle,
or save it for morning?

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Did you say something?

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Would you repeat it?

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Did you throw the
bottle against the wall?

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Did it break?

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Did you clean it up?

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Did you tear down the web?

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What did you do with the
bug the spider was saving?

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Did you dive without
clothes into cold water?

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Have you been born?

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What book will you be
reading when you die?

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If it's a good one,
you won't finish it.

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If it's a bad one,
what a shame."

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Thank you very much.

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[APPLAUSE]

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