WEBVTT

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[APPLAUSE]

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This is called
Demilitarized Zone.

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It's another border poem.

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But I think maybe this is
pretty common knowledge,

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but the Demilitarized Zone
is that strip of land that

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separates the Koreas,
North and South Korea.

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And I was like, that's
maybe another aperture,

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a demilitarized zone.

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And I just started
to imagine what

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would happen if the whole
thing was a demilitarized zone.

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So that's what
this one's called.

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I roll my suitcase through
the Demilitarized Airport.

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I hand my Demilitarized
ticket to the Demilitarized

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agent at the gate, who smiles
in a demilitarized way.

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Points with an open hand.

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On the plane, I order a
demilitarized orange juice.

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I look down at the Demilitarized
mountains of Siberia

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and imagine walking on them.

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We land on the
Demilitarized runway,

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and the captain's voice
over the loudspeaker

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is demilitarized as he asks
us to stay in our seats.

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In the bathroom, I brush
my demilitarized teeth.

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I get on the wrong
Demilitarized train,

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and have to plead
with the conductor who

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does not have a gun.

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I watch the demilitarized
pine trees filter

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the sun like a ceiling fan.

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I watch demilitarized
cranes land on a lake,

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so bright it makes me blink.

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The Demilitarized conductor bows
as he enters each train car.

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An old woman sits with
Demilitarized bundles

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wrapped in pink.

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At Pyongyang, I stop for
a demilitarized noodles.

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The Taedong River is
not full of bodies.

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The sun in the trees makes
a noise like, eee, eee.

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The sparrows and
the buckwheat fields

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shout in Northern
accents and no guns.

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At Uiju, the platform
is demilitarized.

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The taxi stand is not
pockmarked with mines.

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I buy a demilitarized
barley tea,

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and the shopkeeper
hands me my change,

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like she's responsible for me.

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In the Demilitarized
record haul,

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I hand over a slip of
Demilitarized paper,

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and the clerk
smiles at my accent.

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You've traveled a
long way, she says,

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as she leads me to the
Demilitarized stacks.

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We find my family's
genealogy book.

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We turn to the last generation,
recorded before the world ended

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and our line split South.

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I unfold my paper with
a list of missing names.

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The clerk copies the
letters as I read them.

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Together, we
demilitarize my family.

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The sun coming in through
the windows says, ah, ah.

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[APPLAUSE]

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