Just these exquisite perfections.
Thank you, Kim.
[APPLAUSE]
And I want to take this moment to just thank
the work that Kim does, and also the work that Tyler does here.
It is a very beautiful thing, and it is a very special thing
to build these kinds of spaces-- the spaces of possibility.
And Kim and Tyler are both just magicians of possibilities.
So please give it up for both of them one more time.
And if you have not spent any time in the Poetry Center
across the way, do.
It is a terrific resource.
There's 60,000 books of poetry.
Imagine that.
Did you say 10 million poems?
10 million poems.
Each of those, a connection--
each of them.
So do take a look at it.
Wow!
We are in for a treat.
And also-- so one of--
Laura was one of our faculty members this week.
And it's been so wonderful to learn in your company, Laura,
and to see the way that you showed up for the Fellows,
and also the way that Laura's been on the board of In-Na-Po
for some time now.
And to see, in a distance, in a little square often,
just the way that you offer your wisdom
and the way that you offer your insightfulness to the work
that we're doing at In-Na-Po.
So thank you.
And I cannot wait to hear your poetry tonight.
And Arizona poet laureate, right?
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Wow, I'm so excited.
So Laura Tohe, Diné, Sleepy-Rock People clan.
Born for the Bitter Water People clan.
She's written five books, and her work
has appeared in US, Canada, Chile and Europe.
Her commissioned librettos: Enemy Slayer: a Navajo Oratorio,
and Nahsdzaan of the Glittering World.
If you don't like my Diné bizaad,
you should hear my French.
It's terrible.
So made their world premieres in Arizona and France,
respectively.
Among her awards are the 2020 Academy of American Poetry
Fellowship, Arizona Book Association's Glyph Award
for Best Poetry and Best Book, and nomination
for the Pushcart Award.
She's a Professor Emerita with Distinction from Arizona State
University.
Give it up for the current poet laureate of Arizona.
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]
There, you can see me.
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you so much for coming out tonight on this very cool spring
evening to hear poetry.
It's great to see your faces and to be
in the company of these great, emerging poets from all
over the country that we've had the pleasure to work with.
And to work with the faculty that are here tonight,
and especially to Kim for helping make all this possible,
and to Tyler, and to Paola.
I don't know if she's still here or not.
But I'm going to go ahead and start
reading because probably time to get ready to put on our pajamas
pretty soon.
So I'm going to read a couple of old poems
from my first book called No Parole Today.
When I was at the boarding school in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, there were two groups of students
that dressed a particular way.
And that's what I wrote about in this poem, Cat or Stomp.
To all the former cats and stomps of the Navajo Nation,
The first few days back at the Indian School
after summer vacation
You wore your new clothes; Wrangler tight jeans,
stitched on the side,
And boots, if you were lucky enough
to have a pair of Tony Lama, Nocona, or Acme.
A true stomp listened to country Western music, Waylon and George
Jones,
Dying cowboy music, and all that stuff.
You wore go-go boots and bell-bottoms if you were a cat,
and danced to The Rolling Stones.
Even if you wore tennis shoes, it
was clear which side you were on.
Every year, the smoking Greyhound
buses pulled up in front of the old gymnasium,
Bringing loads of students fresh off the reservation,
Dragging metal trunks, train cases, and cardboard boxes
precariously tied with string.
The word spread quickly of some new kid
from Chinle or Many Farms.
Is he a cat or stomp?
someone would ask.
Stomp,
And those with appropriate clothing
would get their chance to dance with him that night.
[APPLAUSE]