Transcript of rings on little fingers:

I think that once of things that’s actually gotten me well through life so that I don’t have to get angry about things like our current political situation is that I’ve always had these very strong black and white views of things and I think of them as my prejudices and I live with them because I think they show me how to live in a good way. One of my prejudices, and don’t ask me where it came from because, truly, I do not know and I doubt a psychiatrist could figure it out either, but I have always thought, that people, but particularly men, that where rings on their little fingers are fakes and phonies, they’re superficial, they’re amateurs—they don’t know what they’re doing, they’re pretending to be something they’re not.--*laughter*--And, well, it’s useful to have these, so I don’t need to talk to a man with a ring on his little finger--*laughter*--whatever, or that’s why he doesn’t love me: he has a ring on his little finger. Um, and you’ll notice, that I really always have been ringless. Twice in my life, I’ve had rings and they’ve always been disasters and fortunately haven’t lasted very long, but rings of course are traditionally symbols of power. I wrote this poem in the late 60s and I had gone to the Guggenheim Museum to hear poetry reading by a poem by a poet who I loved then and I love now, Gary Snyder, and of course, those of you who know Gary Snyder and his work, know that there’s no way you could call this guy who lives without plumbing and electricity, you know, phony or superficial—he’s a person who has always involved with all the things are genuine sincere—all the things that the 60s were about. So, I was backstage talking to someone and imagine what I felt when I looked over and saw that Gary was wearing a ring on his little finger—*laughter*--Oh I knew I’d have to do something with that.

Ringless:

I cannot stand (this is one of my angry poems, right).I can not stand the man who wears a ring on his little finger.A white peacock walking on the moon,Splinters of silver dust his body. But the Greek man George Washington, cracked in half in my living room one day and I saw that he was made of marble with black veins. It does not justify the ring to say someone gave it to you and the little finger is the only one it would fit. It does not justify to say Cocteau wore one. And still made the man burst silently through the mirror. Many beautiful poems have been made with rings worn on the little finger *laughter* That isn’t the point! Flaubert had jasper, Lorca had jade, Dante had amber, and browning had carnelian, George Washington had solid gold, Even Kelly once wore a scarab there, but I am telling you I can not stand a man who wears a ring on his little finger. He may indeed run the world--that does not make him any better in my needle point eyes *laughter* walleye? is a storm, there were heaps of fish lying shimmering in the sun with red gashes still heaving and the mounds were knee-deep with lovers they were gold and green with glass balls bobbing in their nets on the wave. there were black-eyed men with hair all over their bodies. there were black-skirted women baking break and there were gallons and gallons of red wine. the girl spilled one drop of hot wax on her lover’s neck as she glanced at his white teeth and *loud cough* thick?hands? there were red and silver snakes coiling around the legs of the dancers there was hot sun and there was no torrent?? How do I reconcile these images with our cool president George Washington walking the street, Every bone in my body is Ivory and has the word “America” carved on it, but my head takes me away from furniture and pewter to the sun tugging at my nipples and trying to squeeze under my toes. The sun appeared in the shape of a man and he had a ring made of sun around his glittered finger, “it will burn up your hand,” I said. But he made motions in the air and passed by. The moon appeared the shape of a young negro boy and he had a ring made of dew around his little finger, “you’ll lose it” I said. But he touched my face not losing a drop and passed through. Then I saw Alexander Hamilton whom I loved and he had a ring on his little finger but he wouldn’t touch me and Lorca had rings around both his little fingers and suddenly everyone I knew appeared and they all had ring around their little fingers and I was the only one in the world left without any rings on any of my fingers whatsoever, and worst of all there was George Washington walking down the senate aisles with a ring on his little finger, managing the world. Managing my world. That’s what I mean. You wear a ring a ring on your little finger and you manage my world. And I am ringless--Ringless; I cannot stand the man who wears a ring on his little finger. Not even if it is you.