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<td width="426" bgcolor="white"><p align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
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<td width="333"> <p align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">1</span></font></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">A
dark woman, head bent, listening for something</font></span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify; line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="left"><span style="font-size:10pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">-- a woman�s voice, a man�s voice or</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">voice
of the freeway. Night after night, metal streaming downcoast,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">past
eucalyptus, cypress, agribusiness empires</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">THE
SALAD BOWL OF THE WORLD, gurr of small planes</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">dusting
the strawberries, each berry picked by a hand</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">in
close communion, strawberry blood on the wrist,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">Malathion
in the throat, communion,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">the
hospital at the edge of the fields,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">premature
slipping from unsafe wombs,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">the
labor and delivery nurse on her break</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial">
</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">watching </span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">planes
dusting rows old pickers.</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">Elsewhere
declarations are made:</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">at the sink</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">rinsing
strawberries flocked and gleaming, fresh from market</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">one
says: �On the pond this evening is a light</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">finer
than my mother�s handkerchief</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">received
from her mother, hemmed and initialed</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">by
the nuns in Belgium.�</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">One
says:</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">�I can lie for hours</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">reading
and listening to music. But sleep comes hard.</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">I�d
rather lie awake and read.�</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">One
writes:</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">�Mosquitoes
pour through the cracks</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">in
this cabin�s walls, the road</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">in
winter is often impassable,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">I
live here so I don�t have to go out and act, </font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">I�m
trying to hold onto my life, it feels like nothing.�</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">One
says: �I never knew from one day to the next</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">where
it was coming from:</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">I had to make my
life happen</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">from
day to day.</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">Every day an emergency.</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">Now
I have a house, a job from year to year.</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="left" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">What
does that make me?�</font></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial"> :: ::
::
:: </font></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I was born a month early. I weighed five pounds.</span></font> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">The doctor said, �If she loses weight we�ll put her in the
incubator for a few days but if she gains weight, she can go home.�</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">He never told me when to stop.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">It�s a true story. But the joke is mine.</span></font> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">It�s something that you learn when you are a fat kid. Make
the joke before anyone else can. Then maybe they�ll leave you alone. Or, if
you�re funny enough, and you make them laugh enough, they may even be your
friend. Which is nice of them since they have to endure the embarrassment of
being seen with you.</span></font> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">If you don�t make the joke you�re one of the kids who runs
home. Trying to stay away from the boys who poke at your legs with sticks. You
pile onto your bed. A lump. You squeeze into yourself and you cry.</span></font> </p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-fareast-font-family:
" Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"><font face="Arial">The first thing, before I could even inhale and exhale
they decided my weight was an issue. </font></span>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-fareast-font-family:
" Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"><font face="Arial">Welcome to the difficult world.</font></span></p>
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<p><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b> </b></span></font><font face="Arial" color="#E499FF"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b> Conversation</b></span></font></p>
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<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><font face="Arial">This is a call and response.</font></span></p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><font face="Arial">Each section opens with parts
of the poem</font></span></p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><font face="Arial"><a href="http://www.nortonpoets.com/richa.htm">An Atlas of The Difficult World</a>
</font></span></p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><font face="Arial"> by</font><i><font face="Arial"> </font></i><font face="Arial">Adrienne</font><i><font face="Arial">
</font></i><font face="Arial">Rich</font></span></p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><font face="Arial"> ::
:: :: :: </font></span></p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><font face="Arial">And the parts that follow
are my responses. </font></span></p>
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<td width="539"><p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">Within
two miles of the Pacific rounding</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">this
long bay, sheening the light for miles</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">inland,
floating its fog through redwood rifts and over</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">strawberry
and artichoke fields, its bottomless mind</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">returning
to the same rocks, the same cliffs, with </font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">ever-changing
words, always the same language</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">---
this is where I live now.</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">If you had
known me</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">once,
you�d still know me now though in a different</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">light
and life.</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">This is no place you ever
knew me.</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> ::
:: :: :: :: :: ::
</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">When I cannot endure the self I
have created, I move. I look to geography for salvation. I adopt a culture.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">For a while I wore hip hugging blue
jeans and tye-dyed t-shirts, work boots and never a bra or underwear. For a
while I wore Levies and Tony Llamas and embroidered cowboy shirts. And
sometimes a Stenson. I wore long drawstring calico skirts and Birkenstocks and
had my head shaved by a holy man on a riverbank. I wore black pants and black
shirts and black boots and black socks and black underwear and a black bra and
I never went above Fourteenth Street. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">But the pressure would build and
I�d go somewhere else and change my uniform. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I thought: maybe the mountains and
so I went there and I stood at my window and marveled at how many stars were
visible. I walked over rocks. My skin got dry. My lungs pulled at the oxygen
thin air. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I thought: maybe the city. And I
walked faster and faster through the crowds because I learned where I was going
and exactly how to get there and the fastest way to get there. And I looked at
the full moon night and stopped walking. I stood just a few feet away from the
row of cardboard houses against the black metal fence and I was there but I
wasn�t making it.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I thought: maybe the bay. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">This is where you think you know me
now. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">But no geography has closed around
me. All uniforms begin to itch. My body is still the same.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I think: maybe a small town in the
middle.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Or the smaller city I rejected.</span></font></p>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-fareast-font-family:
" Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"><font face="Arial">Or nearer to my mother. She�s older now.</font></span>
<p align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
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<td width="691"><p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">I
wonder if this is a white mans madness,</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">I
honor your feelings and leave it at that.</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align="justify" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I was worried about people
of Arab decent and those who looked as if they might be. Stories were
circulating daily about hate crimes, an old man in Oakland had been attacked,
mosques were vandalized. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-indent:.5in;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">My
mother asked, � Are there any Muslims at your school?�</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-indent:.5in;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">�Yes
mom. I know some Muslims.�</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style="text-align:justify; line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-indent:.5in;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">�
Well, just be nice to them.� </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">She meant, be afraid. Don�t
antagonize. They can�t be trusted. But I wanted to be nice. I wanted to be
clear that I did not assume or project anything about them. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I was sitting at a table on
the patio because I was smoking. I smoke when I am sad, or angry. I smoke when
I feel helpless.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">A young woman with almond
skin and long black hair was walking toward me. Except for the logo loyal
generic clothing she wore, she looked like a person from any number of Arab
countries. I smiled a welcome. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">� I thought you might be
interested in this.� She said sweetly and she handed me an orange flyer. It was
an advertisement for an MLM company with a health kit, AKA diet plan. In a
corner text box a name and telephone number had been hand written. I imagine it
was hers. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">� Oh. No. No thank you� I
tried to sound as sweet as she had. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">She nodded and walked away.
</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">No worries about
assumptions or projections. I was fat. I must be interested in a diet product.
I must not know that I can lose weight. I must not have tried.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">There�s nothing wrong with
that, is there? Approaching a total stranger and suggesting that they change an
attribute of their physicality, that�s OK. She was just worried about my
health. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I pulled deeply at the end
of my smoke and hissed the exhale through my nose.</span></font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun:
yes"><font face="Arial"> </font></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
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<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent:0in; line-height:normal;"><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>XII</span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">What homage will be paid to a beauty built to
last </font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">from inside out, executing the blue prints of
resistance and mercy</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">drawn up in childhood, in that little girl,
round-faced with</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun:
yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">clenched fists, already acquainted with
morning</span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">in the creased snapshots you gave me?</font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">What homage will be</span></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun:
yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">paid to beauty</span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">that insists on speaking truth, knows the two
are not always the</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun:
yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">same</span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">beauty that won�t deny, is itself an eye,
will not rest under</font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun:
yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><font face="Arial">contemplation?</span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> ::
::
::
::</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:.5in" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Sunday, after the fat
women�s swim, I adopt my locker room vision. I keep my eyes focused on the
shower handle, my clothing, my image in the mirror. But I see them out of the
corner of my eyes. Rounded forms, rippled flesh, they are drying themselves,
laughing, making plans to go to lunch. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:.5in" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I remember my mother�s body
while she changed her cloths. I remember it in stages, ageing, a new vein
popped out on a calf, a scar raised along the back of a knee. Her belly rose
and fell with each diet trend. It was my mother�s body. I never thought about
it in terms of beauty. It just was the geography of her life. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:.5in" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I am taller. I am broader.
I lean down now when I kiss her goodbye. But sometimes I smell like her. My
fingers look like hers. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:.5in" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">When I was twelve I did my
first diet. I stood in front of the mirror in our hall and sucked in my
stomach. I arched my back and admired my breasts. I had the power of youth. I
was beauty.</span></font><span style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font></span><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Now I have scars, and veins
and geography of my own.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:.5in" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">I look around the locker
room. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:.5in" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Beauty will not rest.</span></font></p>
<p align="justify" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"> </p>
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<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style='mso-bidi-font-family:"Courier New"'><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">late, before leaving your office</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">of the one intense yellow lamp-spot and the darkening window</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">in the lassitude of a building faded to quiet</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">long after rush-hour.</font><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem</span></span></span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">standing up in a bookstore far from the ocean</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">on a grey day of early spring, faint flakes driven</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">across the plains' enormous spaces around you.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">in a room where too much has happened for you to bear</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">where the bedclothes lie in stagnant coils on the bed</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">and the open valise speaks of flight</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">but you cannot leave yet.</font><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem</span></span></span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">as the underground train loses momentum and before running</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">up the stairs</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">toward a new kind of love</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">your life has never allowed.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem by the light</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">of the television screen where soundless images jerk and slide</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">while you wait for the newscast from the intifada.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem in a waiting-room</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">of eyes met and unmeeting, of identity with strangers.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem by fluorescent light</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">in the boredom and fatigue of the young who are counted out,</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">count themselves out, at too early an age.</font><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know</span></span></span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">you are reading this poem through your failing sight, the thick</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">lens enlarging these letters beyond all meaning yet you read on</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">because even the alphabet is precious.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem as you pace beside the stove</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">warming milk, a crying child on your shoulder, a book in your</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">hand</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">because life is short and you too are thirsty.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem which is not in your language</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">guessing at some words while others keep you reading</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">and I want to know which words they are.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem listening for something, torn</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">between bitterness and hope</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">turning back once again to the task you cannot refuse.</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">I know you are reading this poem because there is nothing else</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">left to read</span></font></span></pre><pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span
style="font-size:10pt; mso-spacerun: yes"><font face="Arial"> </font><span
style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt;"><font face="Arial">there where you have landed, stripped as you are.</span></font></span></pre>
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<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;
mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:
9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:paragraph;
mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;mso-element-top:
36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">I did an internet search on </font></span></pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">The Atlas of the Difficult World. </font></span></pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">This poem popped up over and over. It </font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">was the poem that stayed with me after my</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">first read. It speaks to why we read and</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">why we write. We do live in the difficult </font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">world. We seek connection. All those things, those </font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">adjectives that describe us, </font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual </font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">preference, sexual identity, height, weight,</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial"> all those qualifiers attract and repel. But</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial"> why can�t they simply describe? </font></span></pre>
<pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"> </pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">My revolution is about my fat body. I insist</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial"> that it be taken seriously. I beseech you to</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial"> consider your internalized fat hatred.</font></span></pre>
<pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">I do not know you are reading this.</font></span></pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">I do not know who you are yet.</font></span></pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">I do not know how to find you. </font></span></pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"> </pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">But maybe you have found this and you are</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial"> reading it and you think �I never thought of </font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">it like that.</font></span></pre>
<pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">And that is the hope </font></span></pre><pre
style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; mso-element:frame;mso-element-frame-width:223.7pt;mso-element-frame-height:
495.45pt;mso-element-frame-hspace:9.0pt;mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:
paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:page;mso-element-left:63.5pt;
mso-element-top:36.05pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">stripped that I am</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">that buoys me through the</font></span></pre>
<pre style="line-height:100%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'; font-size:10pt; mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;"><font face="Arial">difficult world.</font></span></pre>
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