[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.92,0:00:06.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have a friend named Kaveh Akbar,\Nwho is a fellow poet.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.72,0:00:09.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Kaveh found this photo online
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.52,0:00:13.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the anatomical heart of a blue whale
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.20,0:00:17.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that scientists had hung\Non a hook from the ceiling,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.04,0:00:20.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is how they were able to observe\Nthat the heart of a blue whale
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.58,0:00:24.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is big enough that a person\Ncan stand up fully inside of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.50,0:00:28.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when Kaveh shared this photo online,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.43,0:00:30.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he did so with the caption,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.60,0:00:33.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"This is another reminder
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.25,0:00:39.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the universe has already written\Nthe poem you were planning on writing."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.20,0:00:43.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I first saw that,\NI was horrified.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.27,0:00:46.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was like, "Come on, man!\NI'm trying to invent new metaphors!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.82,0:00:49.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm trying to discover beauty\Nthat hasn't been discovered yet.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.79,0:00:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do you mean, the universe\Nis always going to get there before me?"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.21,0:00:56.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I know this isn't\Na uniquely poet problem,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.79,0:01:02.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but on days when the world\Nfeels especially big
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.05,0:01:04.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or especially impossible
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.30,0:01:07.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or especially full of grandeur,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.34,0:01:09.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those are the days when I feel,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.49,0:01:13.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"What do I possibly have to contribute
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.76,0:01:15.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to all of this?"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.50,0:01:19.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not long ago, I saw this video\Nthat some of you may have seen.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.46,0:01:22.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It makes the internet rounds\Nevery couple of months.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.42,0:01:24.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are these birds\Nthat are called starlings,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.99,0:01:28.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they fly in what's\Ncalled a "murmuration,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.49,0:01:31.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is generally\Njust a big cloud of birds.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.94,0:01:35.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And someone happened to catch\Na quick video on their phone
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.93,0:01:38.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of these starlings flying.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.26,0:01:41.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at first, it's just an amorphous blob,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.44,0:01:44.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then there's a moment\Nwhere the birds shift,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.42,0:01:48.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they form the shape of a starling
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.90,0:01:50.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the sky!
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.57,0:01:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.61,0:01:53.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as soon as I saw it, I was like,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.65,0:01:56.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Gasps) "The universe has already\Nwritten the poem
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.08,0:01:57.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you were planning on writing!"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.67,0:01:58.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.78,0:02:02.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Except, for the first time,\Nit didn't fill me with despair.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.09,0:02:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, I thought, "OK.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.17,0:02:09.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe it's not my job\Nto invent something new.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.93,0:02:15.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe instead it's my job to listen\Nto what the universe is showing me
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.67,0:02:21.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to keep myself open\Nto what the universe offers,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.19,0:02:23.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that when it's my turn,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.70,0:02:26.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can hold something to the light,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.15,0:02:28.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just for a moment,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.23,0:02:30.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just for as long as I have.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.94,0:02:36.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The universe has already written the poem
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.56,0:02:39.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you were planning on writing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.80,0:02:41.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is why
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.51,0:02:47.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can do nothing\Nbut point at the flock of starlings
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.28,0:02:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose bodies rise and fall\Nin inherited choreography,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.43,0:02:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,swarming the sky in a sweeping curtain
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.23,0:03:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, for one blistering moment,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.28,0:03:02.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,forms the unmistakeable shape
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.86,0:03:04.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a giant bird
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.55,0:03:06.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,flapping against the sky.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.35,0:03:11.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is why your mouth forms an "o"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.41,0:03:12.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is not a gasp,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.91,0:03:15.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but rather, the beginning of,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.49,0:03:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Oh. Of course."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.32,0:03:24.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As in, of course the heart of a blue whale\Nis as large as a house
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.44,0:03:28.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with chambers tall enough\Nto fit a person standing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.80,0:03:32.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course a fig becomes possible
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.72,0:03:37.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when a lady wasp lays her eggs\Ninside a flower,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.27,0:03:40.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dies and decomposes,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.21,0:03:43.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the fruit, evidence of her transformation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.95,0:03:47.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, the poem is so bright,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.39,0:03:50.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your silly language will not stick to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.68,0:03:54.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, the poem is so true,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.04,0:03:56.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nobody will believe you.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.40,0:03:59.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am a bird
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.12,0:04:01.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made of birds.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.86,0:04:05.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This blue heart a house\Nyou can stand up inside of.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.81,0:04:08.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am dying
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.14,0:04:09.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,here
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.82,0:04:13.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inside this flower.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.14,0:04:15.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is OK.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.92,0:04:18.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is what I was put here to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.92,0:04:21.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take this fruit.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.54,0:04:24.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is what I have to offer.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.22,0:04:26.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It may not be first,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.40,0:04:28.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or ever best,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.40,0:04:30.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it is the only way to be sure
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.02,0:04:33.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I lived at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.09,0:04:40.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)