WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.464 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.464 --> 00:00:03.904 align:middle line:90% [CHUCKLES] 00:00:03.904 --> 00:00:04.880 align:middle line:90% 00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:07.360 align:middle line:84% So I would like to close with new work. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.450 align:middle line:90% 00:00:11.450 --> 00:00:13.430 align:middle line:90% This is a litany. 00:00:13.430 --> 00:00:15.920 align:middle line:90% Get ready. 00:00:15.920 --> 00:00:18.030 align:middle line:84% It is the month of Lent, is it not? 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:18.730 align:middle line:90% It has begun. 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:22.850 align:middle line:90% 00:00:22.850 --> 00:00:29.780 align:middle line:84% I was raised a Catholic, and I've had conversations 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:33.080 align:middle line:84% with very amazing thinkers and artists 00:00:33.080 --> 00:00:37.700 align:middle line:84% here about the impact of Catholicism on one's identity 00:00:37.700 --> 00:00:39.510 align:middle line:90% and on one's aesthetics. 00:00:39.510 --> 00:00:44.210 align:middle line:84% And I was saying to them that the figure of Mary, the Virgin 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:46.800 align:middle line:84% Mary, has been very important to me, 00:00:46.800 --> 00:00:52.280 align:middle line:84% because in most historical accounts of this woman, 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:54.410 align:middle line:84% we have good reason to believe that she was 00:00:54.410 --> 00:00:59.210 align:middle line:84% a very young person, a girl, and we 00:00:59.210 --> 00:01:02.670 align:middle line:84% have very good reasons to consider this figure moving 00:01:02.670 --> 00:01:05.489 align:middle line:84% through Nazareth and Jerusalem in the contested 00:01:05.489 --> 00:01:08.610 align:middle line:90% lands of Palestine. 00:01:08.610 --> 00:01:13.620 align:middle line:84% And I've also been thinking about the diminishing rights 00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:16.320 align:middle line:84% of women and girls in terms of their reproduction 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:19.050 align:middle line:84% and the consent that they're capable of offering now 00:01:19.050 --> 00:01:20.610 align:middle line:90% under the law. 00:01:20.610 --> 00:01:25.590 align:middle line:84% And I've also been thinking about the devastation of gender 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:36.630 align:middle line:84% affirming health that our trans friends will not have access to. 00:01:36.630 --> 00:01:40.050 align:middle line:84% And I've been thinking a lot about the phrase "Hail Mary" 00:01:40.050 --> 00:01:44.820 align:middle line:84% as a Hail Mary pass and the prayer Hail Mary. 00:01:44.820 --> 00:01:46.380 align:middle line:84% So I'm thinking about the Hail Mary 00:01:46.380 --> 00:01:49.380 align:middle line:84% pass as a desperate attempt, an act 00:01:49.380 --> 00:01:53.490 align:middle line:84% that you take at a moment in the game, knowing full well 00:01:53.490 --> 00:01:57.600 align:middle line:84% that it might not work, but you still have to try it. 00:01:57.600 --> 00:02:00.690 align:middle line:84% And I have started thinking about that phrase as a resistant 00:02:00.690 --> 00:02:02.890 align:middle line:90% phrase. 00:02:02.890 --> 00:02:04.330 align:middle line:84% And growing up, when I used to say 00:02:04.330 --> 00:02:09.639 align:middle line:84% the rosary, the line, the opening lines of the verse, 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:13.220 align:middle line:84% Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, 00:02:13.220 --> 00:02:16.160 align:middle line:84% I always hear it as Hail Mary, full of grace, 00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:17.780 align:middle line:90% the law is with you. 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:20.170 align:middle line:84% And so now I'm thinking about what it means 00:02:20.170 --> 00:02:23.020 align:middle line:90% when the law is not with you. 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:29.770 align:middle line:84% And so this closing piece is a litany [CHUCKLES] at the pulpit, 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:34.240 align:middle line:84% and it's called The Angelical Salutation of Every Girl 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:34.935 align:middle line:90% in History. 00:02:34.935 --> 00:02:38.650 align:middle line:90% 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:44.410 align:middle line:84% Hail the wild grasses and her legs scratching the blades. 00:02:44.410 --> 00:02:48.770 align:middle line:84% Green against brown against green against brown. 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:54.170 align:middle line:84% The slash burn of the thicket, thin shins flanking wind. 00:02:54.170 --> 00:02:58.480 align:middle line:84% Hail the graze and cut sine curve of her calf sailing 00:02:58.480 --> 00:02:59.740 align:middle line:90% in sword. 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.500 align:middle line:84% Hail she who lets us hear the crack of her heel against Earth. 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:06.840 align:middle line:90% Plectrum strumming the ground. 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:10.470 align:middle line:84% Hail the hair parted in the middle, braided from the crown, 00:03:10.470 --> 00:03:13.160 align:middle line:84% trailing the wings of the shoulders. 00:03:13.160 --> 00:03:16.400 align:middle line:84% Hail the heave and the hoist of arms that 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.540 align:middle line:90% raised her fists to the air. 00:03:18.540 --> 00:03:22.920 align:middle line:84% Hail the great foist of her desire, its ballast of iron, 00:03:22.920 --> 00:03:24.540 align:middle line:90% its rattle of gravel. 00:03:24.540 --> 00:03:28.790 align:middle line:84% Hail the weight of her want, the thrusting void where all of her 00:03:28.790 --> 00:03:30.080 align:middle line:90% should be. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:34.580 align:middle line:84% Hail her running to be in her place. 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:38.970 align:middle line:84% Let breath arrive as mainsail unfurling at high tide. 00:03:38.970 --> 00:03:41.960 align:middle line:84% Let her spine be a boom, the steel 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.380 align:middle line:90% yowl from the deepest bottom. 00:03:45.380 --> 00:03:49.010 align:middle line:84% Hail the yawl of a torso bounding the stairs up 00:03:49.010 --> 00:03:52.320 align:middle line:84% to the mezzanine, then to the terrace, then the skyline. 00:03:52.320 --> 00:03:57.530 align:middle line:84% Hail her now fleet footed and frothing for an unwieldy freedom 00:03:57.530 --> 00:03:59.880 align:middle line:90% denied and denied again. 00:03:59.880 --> 00:04:03.900 align:middle line:84% Hail every crease and feather that bends and drags, 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:07.120 align:middle line:84% darts and stunts under hedge and harrow, 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:10.260 align:middle line:84% charting the cosine of the grabbed snack 00:04:10.260 --> 00:04:13.450 align:middle line:84% and this tossed book heckle and hell. 00:04:13.450 --> 00:04:16.029 align:middle line:90% Past every unwanted hey. 00:04:16.029 --> 00:04:21.630 align:middle line:84% Hail the fumble and the flail of her fugitive gait. 00:04:21.630 --> 00:04:25.590 align:middle line:84% Let her flip her scab back for fresh hide. 00:04:25.590 --> 00:04:31.000 align:middle line:84% Hail her body full throated fledge, her piracy of time, 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.330 align:middle line:90% the hours never offered. 00:04:33.330 --> 00:04:36.100 align:middle line:84% Hail her standing at the back of the line, 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:38.710 align:middle line:84% still in the storm of a scolding. 00:04:38.710 --> 00:04:41.070 align:middle line:84% Her pulse racing to stop the clocks 00:04:41.070 --> 00:04:45.450 align:middle line:84% and part the reddest air ahead, and seize the reddest dread 00:04:45.450 --> 00:04:46.240 align:middle line:90% within. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:48.670 align:middle line:90% Liberator of her own flesh. 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:51.870 align:middle line:90% Hail the girl full of doors. 00:04:51.870 --> 00:04:55.360 align:middle line:84% Hail the girl smuggling herself through the border. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.560 align:middle line:84% The she still holding a single thread from cradle to grave. 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:04.050 align:middle line:90% Her refusal of the engraved. 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:07.500 align:middle line:84% Let the medicine bring her to her. 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:09.720 align:middle line:90% Let the fat feel the needle. 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.240 align:middle line:90% Let the skin pink and plump. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:14.900 align:middle line:84% Hail the girl who rolled the corridors 00:05:14.900 --> 00:05:17.160 align:middle line:84% and chose the exits from her gender. 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:21.410 align:middle line:84% Hail she who walked backwards, laughing into every room that 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:23.270 align:middle line:90% shouted her out. 00:05:23.270 --> 00:05:25.890 align:middle line:84% Hail her pissing in her own dirt. 00:05:25.890 --> 00:05:28.530 align:middle line:84% Her haunches sprung from red dust. 00:05:28.530 --> 00:05:32.450 align:middle line:84% Hail her reload and her cock, her breastless armor, 00:05:32.450 --> 00:05:34.080 align:middle line:90% her scratch and dart. 00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:37.140 align:middle line:84% Hail the wiggle eked from the frozen pose. 00:05:37.140 --> 00:05:40.500 align:middle line:84% Hail her hands, fingering the pebble in her pocket. 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:43.700 align:middle line:84% Thumb bitten into a crescent moon. 00:05:43.700 --> 00:05:50.600 align:middle line:84% Hail her boyhood and the sun smitten swoon of afternoons. 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:54.030 align:middle line:84% Hail the cuticle peeled back to reveal blood. 00:05:54.030 --> 00:05:56.720 align:middle line:84% Who let the curl be chewed under the shelling 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.390 align:middle line:84% or the staring match with someone who has lived 00:05:59.390 --> 00:06:03.140 align:middle line:90% louder and longer than she has. 00:06:03.140 --> 00:06:05.520 align:middle line:84% Hail her spirit, stiff as a board, 00:06:05.520 --> 00:06:08.940 align:middle line:84% light as a feather in the archway. 00:06:08.940 --> 00:06:13.330 align:middle line:84% Let her heels grind into the tiles and push the walls apart. 00:06:13.330 --> 00:06:18.510 align:middle line:84% Hail her M, hail her F, hail her M, Hail her own mark 00:06:18.510 --> 00:06:20.530 align:middle line:90% in every form feel letter. 00:06:20.530 --> 00:06:24.270 align:middle line:90% Let the prairie take over. 00:06:24.270 --> 00:06:29.130 align:middle line:84% Hail the ruffled pleat of her pulled smooth, the spit shine 00:06:29.130 --> 00:06:30.990 align:middle line:84% and slicked back, the tight collar 00:06:30.990 --> 00:06:32.950 align:middle line:90% and the hip carved by strap. 00:06:32.950 --> 00:06:35.560 align:middle line:84% Hail her chin pointed and stubborn. 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.790 align:middle line:84% The grating molar and lupine canine. 00:06:38.790 --> 00:06:40.690 align:middle line:90% Let her sound high. 00:06:40.690 --> 00:06:43.090 align:middle line:84% Her North Star pinned to the heaven. 00:06:43.090 --> 00:06:47.070 align:middle line:84% Hail her arms stretching to find the East. 00:06:47.070 --> 00:06:50.550 align:middle line:84% Hail the shoulder roll, the hair squall. 00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:54.330 align:middle line:84% Hail the lilt of her lips and her little purse. 00:06:54.330 --> 00:06:58.710 align:middle line:84% Hail the hair flip, her eye roll, her drawl drape, 00:06:58.710 --> 00:07:02.920 align:middle line:84% her tongue against the gum and the stretch and yank and tug. 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.930 align:middle line:84% Hail the globe bulbed with breath. 00:07:06.930 --> 00:07:11.060 align:middle line:84% Hail the nervous chuckle, every bud and bronzed shape. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:15.470 align:middle line:84% Hail her battering heart against the chests gate. 00:07:15.470 --> 00:07:18.150 align:middle line:90% Let her bolt from bloodline. 00:07:18.150 --> 00:07:20.520 align:middle line:90% Let her bolt from its hail. 00:07:20.520 --> 00:07:24.720 align:middle line:84% Hail waistband and Bric-a-brac pancakes and syrup tracks. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.760 align:middle line:90% Gum pack and sandal strap. 00:07:26.760 --> 00:07:28.410 align:middle line:90% Patty cake and clapbacks. 00:07:28.410 --> 00:07:29.160 align:middle line:90% Back slaps. 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:30.660 align:middle line:90% Tic Tacs and hair ties. 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:32.580 align:middle line:90% Lip gloss and headphones. 00:07:32.580 --> 00:07:34.740 align:middle line:90% Headbands and backpacks. 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:36.540 align:middle line:90% Keychains and bookmarks. 00:07:36.540 --> 00:07:38.370 align:middle line:90% Board games and exams. 00:07:38.370 --> 00:07:41.880 align:middle line:84% Hail Valentine's twine, cotton, and iodine. 00:07:41.880 --> 00:07:43.440 align:middle line:90% Band-aids and hopscotch. 00:07:43.440 --> 00:07:46.220 align:middle line:90% Skateboards, stickers. 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:47.910 align:middle line:90% Hail pedal pumps. 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:49.080 align:middle line:90% Puddle jumps. 00:07:49.080 --> 00:07:52.610 align:middle line:84% Hail her hair in the drain and tub scum. 00:07:52.610 --> 00:07:55.610 align:middle line:84% Hail her stern rearing in flight. 00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:59.090 align:middle line:84% Hail the slapping bellow of her thighs. 00:07:59.090 --> 00:08:04.070 align:middle line:90% Let her light meadow and marrow. 00:08:04.070 --> 00:08:08.360 align:middle line:84% Hail her hips and churn that slide 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:12.470 align:middle line:84% this child passed the chide and onward. 00:08:12.470 --> 00:08:20.150 align:middle line:84% Cookie stealer, scissor snapper, paper cutter, gummy sculptor. 00:08:20.150 --> 00:08:23.250 align:middle line:84% Hail the leaper, the empress of the dash. 00:08:23.250 --> 00:08:26.820 align:middle line:84% Hail the stump and stumble, the drop and roll. 00:08:26.820 --> 00:08:28.590 align:middle line:90% Hail the crestfall. 00:08:28.590 --> 00:08:34.470 align:middle line:84% Let her feel the hard sinking stillness before her uprising. 00:08:34.470 --> 00:08:36.690 align:middle line:90% Hail her stubborn glare. 00:08:36.690 --> 00:08:39.299 align:middle line:90% Hail the mutiny of her eyes. 00:08:39.299 --> 00:08:42.049 align:middle line:90% Hail the lambast of every sky. 00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:43.620 align:middle line:90% Hail the clearing. 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:46.430 align:middle line:90% Hail her yes. 00:08:46.430 --> 00:08:50.030 align:middle line:84% Hail the girl who carried the fever in her head. 00:08:50.030 --> 00:08:52.950 align:middle line:90% Hail the girl full of grace. 00:08:52.950 --> 00:08:56.820 align:middle line:84% You are with you, now and at the hour of your death. 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:58.168 align:middle line:90% Amen 00:08:58.168 --> 00:09:00.608 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:09:00.608 --> 00:09:07.940 align:middle line:90% 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:10.040 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:09:10.040 --> 00:09:12.010 align:middle line:90% Thank you.