WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.390 align:middle line:84% And the poem I'll close with is a poem 00:00:02.390 --> 00:00:06.950 align:middle line:84% that I was asked to write by NASA, 00:00:06.950 --> 00:00:12.470 align:middle line:84% that it's a poem that's engraved on the spacecraft, the Europa 00:00:12.470 --> 00:00:15.480 align:middle line:84% Clipper, which launched on October 14. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:18.800 align:middle line:84% It will travel six years to get into orbit 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.860 align:middle line:84% of the second moon of Jupiter, Europa, which 00:00:21.860 --> 00:00:25.460 align:middle line:84% is an icy moon, that they believe has all 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:29.240 align:middle line:90% of the ingredients for life. 00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:33.410 align:middle line:84% I thought it was going to be part of something bigger. 00:00:33.410 --> 00:00:35.960 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:40.340 align:middle line:84% Did not think that the poem was just going on its own 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:42.690 align:middle line:90% as the one message from Earth. 00:00:42.690 --> 00:00:45.530 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:45.530 --> 00:00:48.380 align:middle line:90% Very happy I did not know that-- 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:49.940 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:49.940 --> 00:00:53.510 align:middle line:84% --when I began to write this poem. 00:00:53.510 --> 00:00:57.290 align:middle line:84% It's also engraved on the side of the spacecraft, 00:00:57.290 --> 00:01:00.440 align:middle line:90% in my own handwriting. 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:03.480 align:middle line:90% So no pressure there. 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:05.810 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:05.810 --> 00:01:08.900 align:middle line:84% At one point, Vaughan joined me for the launch. 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:11.140 align:middle line:84% And she looked up and she said, I 00:01:11.140 --> 00:01:13.300 align:middle line:84% feel like we're just launching your laureateship 00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:14.870 align:middle line:90% into the space. 00:01:14.870 --> 00:01:15.580 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:15.580 --> 00:01:17.240 align:middle line:84% And I said, yeah, I feel that way. 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:18.500 align:middle line:90% We're like, goodbye. 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:20.500 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:22.190 align:middle line:90% Look at all we did. 00:01:22.190 --> 00:01:25.040 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:25.540 align:middle line:90% 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:28.640 align:middle line:84% But as I thought about writing this poem, 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.100 align:middle line:84% I thought, really, it's not for out there. 00:01:33.100 --> 00:01:36.310 align:middle line:90% It's for us right here. 00:01:36.310 --> 00:01:39.490 align:middle line:84% And I'm very suspicious of a "we" poem. 00:01:39.490 --> 00:01:42.380 align:middle line:84% I've never really liked a "we" poem. 00:01:42.380 --> 00:01:44.960 align:middle line:84% I don't know if I'm included in the "we." 00:01:44.960 --> 00:01:48.680 align:middle line:84% When you say, "We the people," am I included in "we"? 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:49.790 align:middle line:90% I don't know. 00:01:49.790 --> 00:01:53.980 align:middle line:84% And so I had to take a deep breath and know that this poem 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:55.990 align:middle line:90% was a "we" poem. 00:01:55.990 --> 00:02:00.940 align:middle line:84% And the way I could do that, I wanted to make it for all living 00:02:00.940 --> 00:02:02.010 align:middle line:90% beings on the planet. 00:02:02.010 --> 00:02:04.990 align:middle line:90% 00:02:04.990 --> 00:02:09.610 align:middle line:90% In Praise of Mystery 00:02:09.610 --> 00:02:13.040 align:middle line:90% Arching under the night sky 00:02:13.040 --> 00:02:16.470 align:middle line:90% Inky with black expansiveness 00:02:16.470 --> 00:02:20.150 align:middle line:90% We point to the planets we know 00:02:20.150 --> 00:02:24.000 align:middle line:90% We pin quick wishes on stars 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.030 align:middle line:90% From Earth, we read the sky 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:29.940 align:middle line:84% as if it is an unerring book of the universe 00:02:29.940 --> 00:02:32.570 align:middle line:90% Expert and evident 00:02:32.570 --> 00:02:37.280 align:middle line:84% Still, there are mysteries below our sky 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:38.640 align:middle line:90% The whale song 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:44.420 align:middle line:84% The songbird singing its call in the bow of a wind-shaken tree 00:02:44.420 --> 00:02:51.060 align:middle line:84% We are creatures of constant awe, curious at beauty 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:54.140 align:middle line:90% At leaf and blossom 00:02:54.140 --> 00:02:56.660 align:middle line:90% At grief and pleasure 00:02:56.660 --> 00:02:59.510 align:middle line:90% Sun and shadow 00:02:59.510 --> 00:03:05.060 align:middle line:84% And it is not darkness that unites us 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:08.310 align:middle line:90% Not the cold distance of space 00:03:08.310 --> 00:03:11.190 align:middle line:90% But the offering of water. 00:03:11.190 --> 00:03:16.710 align:middle line:84% Each drop of rain, each rivulet, each pulse, each vein 00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:21.630 align:middle line:84% Oh, second moon, we too are made of water 00:03:21.630 --> 00:03:24.680 align:middle line:90% Of vast and beckoning seas 00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:28.280 align:middle line:90% We too are made of wonders 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:31.460 align:middle line:90% Of great and ordinary loves 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:34.790 align:middle line:90% Of small, invisible worlds 00:03:34.790 --> 00:03:41.140 align:middle line:84% Of a need to call out through the dark 00:03:41.140 --> 00:03:42.590 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much. 00:03:42.590 --> 00:03:45.190 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:45.190 --> 00:03:46.642 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:03:46.642 --> 00:03:49.360 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:50.870 align:middle line:90% Getting all my books now. 00:03:50.870 --> 00:03:53.768 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:03:53.768 --> 00:03:58.600 align:middle line:90% 00:03:58.600 --> 00:03:59.977 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:03:59.977 --> 00:04:02.959 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:04:02.959 --> 00:04:16.240 align:middle line:90% 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:17.839 align:middle line:90% Keep it going for Ada Limon. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:19.400 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much, Ada. 00:04:19.400 --> 00:04:22.450 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:04:22.450 --> 00:04:33.000 align:middle line:90%