What was it like working for Vogue magazine under Anna Winter? Former Creative Director

Andre Leon Talley joins us to talk about his memoir, The Shafan Trenches. How do you

write a novel about terrorism in India? Megha Magindar will be here to talk about her new

book, A Burning. Two poets will join us this week to read their poems aloud. First up,

Claudia Rankin will read her poem, Weather. And Jericho Brown will read his poem, Say Thank

You, Say I'm Sorry. Plus, our critics will talk about the latest in literary criticism.

This is the Booker View Podcast for the New York Times. It's June 19th. I'm Pamela

Paul.

Claudia Rankin joins us now from New Haven. She is the author of most recently Citizen, a collection

of poetry, and also the author of a forthcoming collection of essays, Just Us. She teaches

at Yale University. This week, she wrote a poem for The New York Times Booker View,

which she is going to read aloud for us. Claudia, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me. Weather on a scrap of paper in the archive is written. I have

forgotten my umbrella. Turns out in a pandemic, everyone, not just the philosopher is without.

We scramble in the drought of information, held back by inside traders, dropped by drop,

face covering. No, yes, social distancing, six feet under for underlying conditions,

black, Just Us and the blues kneeling on a neck with the full weight of a man in blue,

eight minutes and 46 seconds. In extremists, I can't breathe, gives way to expectation

to giving up this world. And then Mama called to, a call to protest, fire, glass, say their

names, say their names, white silence equals violence, the violence of again, a militarized

police force tear gasping bullets ricochet and civil unrest, taking it, burning it down

whatever contracts keep us social, compel us now to disorder, the disorder piece. We're

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