WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 align:middle line:90%


00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.600 align:middle line:84%
Just these exquisite
perfections.

00:00:06.600 --> 00:00:07.520 align:middle line:90%
Thank you, Kim.

00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:09.560 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:12.160 align:middle line:84%
And I want to take this
moment to just thank

00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:16.640 align:middle line:84%
the work that Kim does, and also
the work that Tyler does here.

00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:20.240 align:middle line:84%
It is a very beautiful thing,
and it is a very special thing

00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:24.800 align:middle line:84%
to build these kinds of spaces--
the spaces of possibility.

00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.380 align:middle line:84%
And Kim and Tyler are both just
magicians of possibilities.

00:00:29.380 --> 00:00:32.439 align:middle line:84%
So please give it up for
both of them one more time.

00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:35.240 align:middle line:84%
And if you have not spent
any time in the Poetry Center

00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:36.880 align:middle line:90%
across the way, do.

00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:38.540 align:middle line:90%
It is a terrific resource.

00:00:38.540 --> 00:00:40.900 align:middle line:90%
There's 60,000 books of poetry.

00:00:40.900 --> 00:00:42.000 align:middle line:90%
Imagine that.

00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:44.480 align:middle line:90%
Did you say 10 million poems?

00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:46.200 align:middle line:90%
10 million poems.

00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:48.440 align:middle line:90%
Each of those, a connection--

00:00:48.440 --> 00:00:49.280 align:middle line:90%
each of them.

00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.520 align:middle line:90%
So do take a look at it.

00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:54.280 align:middle line:90%
Wow!

00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:59.200 align:middle line:90%
We are in for a treat.

00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.360 align:middle line:90%
And also-- so one of--

00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:05.019 align:middle line:84%
Laura was one of our
faculty members this week.

00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:10.940 align:middle line:84%
And it's been so wonderful to
learn in your company, Laura,

00:01:10.940 --> 00:01:14.360 align:middle line:84%
and to see the way that you
showed up for the Fellows,

00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:17.160 align:middle line:84%
and also the way that Laura's
been on the board of In-Na-Po

00:01:17.160 --> 00:01:18.380 align:middle line:90%
for some time now.

00:01:18.380 --> 00:01:22.680 align:middle line:84%
And to see, in a distance,
in a little square often,

00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.120 align:middle line:84%
just the way that
you offer your wisdom

00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:28.640 align:middle line:84%
and the way that you offer
your insightfulness to the work

00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.580 align:middle line:90%
that we're doing at In-Na-Po.

00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:31.540 align:middle line:90%
So thank you.

00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:34.660 align:middle line:84%
And I cannot wait to
hear your poetry tonight.

00:01:34.660 --> 00:01:40.280 align:middle line:84%
And Arizona poet
laureate, right?

00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:43.500 align:middle line:90%
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]

00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:47.240 align:middle line:90%


00:01:47.240 --> 00:01:48.740 align:middle line:90%
Wow, I'm so excited.

00:01:48.740 --> 00:01:51.840 align:middle line:84%
So Laura Tohe, Diné,
Sleepy-Rock People clan.

00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:53.777 align:middle line:84%
Born for the Bitter
Water People clan.

00:01:53.777 --> 00:01:55.360 align:middle line:84%
She's written five
books, and her work

00:01:55.360 --> 00:01:59.180 align:middle line:84%
has appeared in US,
Canada, Chile and Europe.

00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:03.440 align:middle line:84%
Her commissioned librettos:
Enemy Slayer: a Navajo Oratorio,

00:02:03.440 --> 00:02:06.705 align:middle line:84%
and Nahsdzaan of the
Glittering World.

00:02:06.705 --> 00:02:08.080 align:middle line:84%
If you don't like
my Diné bizaad,

00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.020 align:middle line:90%
you should hear my French.

00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:10.780 align:middle line:90%
It's terrible.

00:02:10.780 --> 00:02:14.280 align:middle line:84%
So made their world premieres
in Arizona and France,

00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:15.120 align:middle line:90%
respectively.

00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:18.720 align:middle line:84%
Among her awards are the 2020
Academy of American Poetry

00:02:18.720 --> 00:02:21.800 align:middle line:84%
Fellowship, Arizona Book
Association's Glyph Award

00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.600 align:middle line:84%
for Best Poetry and Best
Book, and nomination

00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:26.280 align:middle line:90%
for the Pushcart Award.

00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.920 align:middle line:84%
She's a Professor Emerita with
Distinction from Arizona State

00:02:29.920 --> 00:02:31.040 align:middle line:90%
University.

00:02:31.040 --> 00:02:33.620 align:middle line:84%
Give it up for the current
poet laureate of Arizona.

00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:37.114 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]

00:02:37.114 --> 00:02:50.600 align:middle line:90%


00:02:50.600 --> 00:02:51.940 align:middle line:90%
There, you can see me.

00:02:51.940 --> 00:02:54.000 align:middle line:90%
[LAUGHTER]

00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:59.400 align:middle line:84%
Thank you so much for coming out
tonight on this very cool spring

00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:01.140 align:middle line:90%
evening to hear poetry.

00:03:01.140 --> 00:03:04.520 align:middle line:84%
It's great to see
your faces and to be

00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:09.560 align:middle line:84%
in the company of these
great, emerging poets from all

00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:14.600 align:middle line:84%
over the country that we've
had the pleasure to work with.

00:03:14.600 --> 00:03:17.150 align:middle line:84%
And to work with the faculty
that are here tonight,

00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:21.650 align:middle line:84%
and especially to Kim for
helping make all this possible,

00:03:21.650 --> 00:03:24.003 align:middle line:90%
and to Tyler, and to Paola.

00:03:24.003 --> 00:03:25.670 align:middle line:84%
I don't know if she's
still here or not.

00:03:25.670 --> 00:03:27.810 align:middle line:84%
But I'm going to
go ahead and start

00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:32.010 align:middle line:84%
reading because probably time to
get ready to put on our pajamas

00:03:32.010 --> 00:03:34.650 align:middle line:90%
pretty soon.

00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:37.410 align:middle line:84%
So I'm going to read
a couple of old poems

00:03:37.410 --> 00:03:42.810 align:middle line:84%
from my first book
called No Parole Today.

00:03:42.810 --> 00:03:45.690 align:middle line:84%
When I was at the boarding
school in Albuquerque, New

00:03:45.690 --> 00:03:49.450 align:middle line:84%
Mexico, there were
two groups of students

00:03:49.450 --> 00:03:52.170 align:middle line:90%
that dressed a particular way.

00:03:52.170 --> 00:03:58.370 align:middle line:84%
And that's what I wrote about
in this poem, Cat or Stomp.

00:03:58.370 --> 00:04:03.130 align:middle line:84%
To all the former cats and
stomps of the Navajo Nation,

00:04:03.130 --> 00:04:05.650 align:middle line:84%
The first few days back
at the Indian School

00:04:05.650 --> 00:04:07.850 align:middle line:90%
after summer vacation

00:04:07.850 --> 00:04:10.850 align:middle line:84%
You wore your new clothes;
Wrangler tight jeans,

00:04:10.850 --> 00:04:12.770 align:middle line:90%
stitched on the side,

00:04:12.770 --> 00:04:15.330 align:middle line:84%
And boots, if you
were lucky enough

00:04:15.330 --> 00:04:20.730 align:middle line:84%
to have a pair of Tony
Lama, Nocona, or Acme.

00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:25.850 align:middle line:84%
A true stomp listened to country
Western music, Waylon and George

00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:26.970 align:middle line:90%
Jones,

00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:30.530 align:middle line:84%
Dying cowboy music,
and all that stuff.

00:04:30.530 --> 00:04:34.250 align:middle line:84%
You wore go-go boots and
bell-bottoms if you were a cat,

00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:36.890 align:middle line:84%
and danced to The
Rolling Stones.

00:04:36.890 --> 00:04:39.370 align:middle line:84%
Even if you wore
tennis shoes, it

00:04:39.370 --> 00:04:43.010 align:middle line:84%
was clear which
side you were on.

00:04:43.010 --> 00:04:45.290 align:middle line:84%
Every year, the
smoking Greyhound

00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:48.630 align:middle line:84%
buses pulled up in front
of the old gymnasium,

00:04:48.630 --> 00:04:52.750 align:middle line:84%
Bringing loads of students
fresh off the reservation,

00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:57.690 align:middle line:84%
Dragging metal trunks, train
cases, and cardboard boxes

00:04:57.690 --> 00:05:00.930 align:middle line:90%
precariously tied with string.

00:05:00.930 --> 00:05:05.250 align:middle line:84%
The word spread
quickly of some new kid

00:05:05.250 --> 00:05:08.490 align:middle line:90%
from Chinle or Many Farms.

00:05:08.490 --> 00:05:10.890 align:middle line:90%
Is he a cat or stomp?

00:05:10.890 --> 00:05:12.530 align:middle line:90%
someone would ask.

00:05:12.530 --> 00:05:13.610 align:middle line:90%
Stomp,

00:05:13.610 --> 00:05:16.010 align:middle line:84%
And those with
appropriate clothing

00:05:16.010 --> 00:05:20.910 align:middle line:84%
would get their chance to
dance with him that night.

00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:24.260 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:05:24.260 --> 00:05:27.000 align:middle line:90%