WEBVTT

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"Good Morning, America."

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Headline.

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The unthinkable's already,
already happened again.

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And so, Layleen
Polanco's perfect face

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swings back into the
orbit of my grief.

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Ketchup.

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It's the anniversary
of the aftermath

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of another bad massacre.

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And I've got plenty of seeds.

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Come in, I whisper to
the wailing in the attic.

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Come in, to the thunder,

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To any sound that'll
shake me from dooms haze.

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Dispatches from Kenosha,
Louisville, Atlanta arrive,

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arrive

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Like a steady kick
drum of sparrows,

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Spatchcocked by gravity.

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Little nevers, little couldn'ts.

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Too late to stop the video.

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Too late, too late.

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I hold each stolen face
against my forehead

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as the centuries slough off.

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Flightless century
and its scythes.

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Century, and its
literal marks and mobs.

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As a child, I couldn't
believe my luck.

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Born in the best
country on Earth.

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Now I know better.

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So what?

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Good morning, what's
done is done is.

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Come in last year's rent.

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Grief's a heavy
planet and green.

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I know better than to call
each gravity's daughter

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to my softest cheek.

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I know, and I know.

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So what?

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[APPLAUSE]

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Thank you.

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Here's what's happening.

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This is the weird moment
where we start to be like,

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do we clap after every poem?

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Do we snap?

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Are we silent?

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The answer is that you
can do any of the above.

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As long as we collectively
decide it's not awkward,

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it won't be awkward.

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Cool?

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So, yeah, whatever
you feel moved to do.

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And if that's just sitting
and taking a breath,

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that's totally cool.

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OK, so yeah.

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Yeah, there we go.

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Nice.

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[APPLAUSE]

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