-In honor of National Poetry Month,
our next guest is here to perform the poem, Rifle,
from his book, "HELIUM."
Please welcome back to the show Rudy Francisco.
-[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-And the article says,
"The Mexican government confiscates
approximately 30,000 illegal firearms per year.
When the guns are taken, they get dismantled,
and the metal is used to make other types of weapons
that will later be utilized by their military."
In 2012, Pedro Reyes, an artist from Mexico City,
convinced his government to donate the guns to him,
and he turned them into musical instruments.
So, somewhere, there's a tambourine,
a drum set, a guitar,
all made out of things that were used to take people's lives,
but now they create a sound
that puts life back into people's bodies,
which is to say a weapon will always be a weapon,
but we choose how we fight the war,
and from this I learned
that even the most destructive instruments
can still create a melody worth dancing to, and, sometimes,
don't we also call that a battle?
I wonder how long it took to convince the first rifle
that it can hold a note instead of a bullet
but still fire into a crowd and make everyone move.
When I was six,
I was taught how to throw a punch.
In the '80s, that was the anti-bullying movement.
Uh, the first time one of my classmates took a "yo mama" joke
a little too far, I remembered my training,
so I turned his nose into a fountain.
My fist, five pennies.
I closed my eyes, I made a wish,
I came home with bloody knuckles,
and it was the first piece of artwork
we hung on the fridge.
I remember staring at my hands the same way
you stare at a test when all your answers are correct.
I didn't know what class this was,
but I did know I was passing,
and isn't that what masculinity has become?
A bunch of dudes afraid of their own feelings,
terrified of any emotion other than anger,
constantly yelling at the shadows on the wall,
but still haven't realized
that we're the ones standing in front of the light?
We learn how to dodge a jab.
We learn how to step in before we swing.
We learn the heart is the same size as the fist,
but we keep forgetting they don't have the same functions.
We keep telling each other to man up,
but we don't even know what that means.
We turn our boys into bayonets.
We point them in the wrong direction.
We pull their triggers, and then we ignore
all the damage they're doing in the distance.
The word "repurpose" -- The word "repurpose" --
The word "repurpose" means
to take an object and give it amnesia.
It means to make something forget
what it's been trained to do
so you can use it for a better reason.
I am learning that this body is not a shotgun.
I am learning that this body is not a pistol.
I am learning that a man is not defined by what he can destroy.
I am learning that a person who only knows how to fight
can only communicate in violence,
and that shouldn't be anyone's first language.
I'm learning the difference between a garden and a graveyard
is only what you choose to put in the ground.
You see, once...
Once I came across a picture of a strange-looking violin.
The caption said that it was made out of a rifle,
and I thought to myself, "You know...
...someday that could be me."
-[ Cheers and applause ]
-Rudy Francisco!
That's how you do it. Thank you so much.
His book, "HELIUM," is in stores now.