By Moni Basu, CNN
(CNN) – Richard Blanco, the poet who likes to describe himself as being made in Cuba, assembled in Spain and imported to the United States, will serve as the inaugural poet when President Barack Obama takes the oath of office for a second term this month.
Blanco will be the first Latino, the first openly gay person and the youngest poet chosen for the coveted role.
A statement from the inaugural committee said Blanco was chosen because the power of his poetry is rooted in American identity.
"Richard’s writing will be wonderfully fitting for an inaugural that will celebrate the strength of the American people and our nation’s great diversity," Obama said in a statement Wednesday that announced his selection.
With that announcement, Blanco will surely be catapulted to fame in the vein of Natasha Trethewey, 46, who this year was chosen to become the nation's poet laureate.
"I’m beside myself, bestowed with this great honor, brimming over with excitement, awe, and gratitude,” Blanco, 44, said in a statement.
“In many ways, this is the very ‘stuff’ of the American Dream, which underlies so much of my work and my life’s story - America’s story, really," he said. "I am thrilled by the thought of coming together during this great occasion to celebrate our country and its people through the power of poetry.”
Blanco was conceived in Cuba to parents who fled Fidel Castro's authoritarian rule. He was born in Madrid but grew up in the United States, living first in New York and then in Miami.
His first book of poetry, "City of a Hundred Fires," was all about a Cuban-American immigrant's quest to define a cultural identity. It won the prestigious Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize from the University of Pittsburgh.
"I always describe this book as a cultural coming of age 'story,' tracing the cultural yearnings and negotiation of growing up Cuban American," Blanco said of the book, named after Cienfuegos, the hometown of his family.
In an interview that aired on NPR on Wednesday, Blanco said he has been thinking about his heritage again in the past few weeks after he learned that he would be writing the inaugural poem.
"Even though it's been a few weeks since I found out, just thinking about my parents and my grandparents and all the struggles they've been through, and how, you know, here I am, first-generation Cuban-American, and this great honor that has just come to me, and just feeling that sense of just incredible gratitude and love," he said.
And in a telephone interview from his home in Bethel, Maine, he told the New York Times that he related to Obama's life story and his multicultural background.
"There has been a spiritual connection in that sense," he said. "I feel in some ways that when I'm writing about my family, I'm writing about him."
Educated in Miami, Blanco began his professional career as a consultant engineer. He wanted to make his family happy by pursuing the sort of career expected in the Cuban-American community.
But his musings on identity led him to writing, and he enrolled in a master's program in fine arts and creative writing at Florida International University. His mentor there was Campbell McGrath, who himself has written several books of poetry.
Even before McGrath had moved from Chicago to start a teaching job in Florida, he received a letter from Blanco.
"I'm not a poet, but would you let me into your class?" Blanco asked McGrath.
McGrath thought Blanco sounded ambitious, but the very first poem he wrote in class, "America," became the first poem in "City of a Hundred Fires."
"From the get-go, his poems were good enough to be published," McGrath said.
He brought to his poetry the structural, analytical abilities of an engineer. He was able to go beyond the beauty of the words, to look beneath the surface and examine the engineering of the poem, McGrath said.
But more than anything, McGrath felt that the power in Blanco's poems lie in the universal messages he conveys. Yes, he writes about identity, but he does so in a deeply personal way: through family and relationships.
"They are deeply humanistic poems," McGrath said.
In "America," for example, Blanco writes about how there was pork served at every family gathering and that one year, he, as a 7-year-old, explained that they should have turkey instead on Thanksgiving. That's what everyone else did.
Abuelita prepared the poor fowl
as if committing an act of treason
faking her enthusiasm for my sake.
McGrath said one of his personal favorites is "El Florida Room," a poem about home and family published in Blanco's latest book, "Looking for the Gulf Motel."
Not a sitting room, but El Florida, where
I sat alone for hours with butterflies
frozen on the polyester curtains
and faces of Lladró figurines: sad angels,
clowns, and princesses with eyes glazed
blue and gray, gazing from behind
the glass doors of the wall cabinet.
Not a tv room, but where I watched
Creature Feature as a boy, clinging
to my brother, safe from vampires
in the same sofa where I fell in love
with Clint Eastwood and my Abuelo
watching westerns, or pitying women
crying in telenovelas with my Abuela.
Obama's inaugural team has asked Blanco to write three poems, McGrath said, from which they will choose one for him to read out on the steps of the Capitol on January 21 at Obama's swearing-in ceremony.
As though writing one poem that captured all at once the personal and the grandness of the nation were not enough. But three.
He thought of another friend, Elizabeth Alexander, who was tapped as Obama's inaugural poet in 2008 and has spoken to McGrath about the process.
"Usually when you write a poem, you think first of yourself," McGrath said. "Then you envision a close friend reading it. But now you have to think about reading it on the steps of the Capitol with the whole world watching. So you have to think of it differently."
Alexander, the chairwoman of the African-American Studies Department at Yale University, said she was amazed at the amount of mail she got from around the world - not just e-mails but letters written on paper. "Who writes letters anymore?" she asked with a laugh.
Some were from people who had written America off as a land of money and power, not one that still appreciated poetry.
"I was so struck," she said. "All these people were taking the time to say that a poem had moved them."
In crafting her own inaugural poem, "Praise Song for the Day," Alexander said she had to think about her words in different terms. She meditated on America and the works of bards like Walt Whitman. She thought of the way Obama had been elected president, by what she felt was a language that was grounded, specific and always looking to higher aspirations.
"The word 'hope' felt tangible and real in his political rhetoric," Alexander said. That was something that resonated in Alexander's poem:
I know there’s something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
And this last stanza:
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.
In writing his poem, Blanco will have to keep in mind one other key factor: that most people will hear his poem read aloud and perhaps never read it on paper or a computer screen.
"That means there has to be a level of clarity," Alexander said, adding that she was delighted that Blanco had been chosen this time.
"The question of how we become American is an enduring one and one that Blanco is dealing with in the present moment with his particulars," she said.
He is a nuanced poet who deserves this honor in every way, Alexander said.
"The ways in which the voices of a diverse America are being given more space and more time is something that's very exciting to see in the choice of Richard Blanco," Alexander said.
There have been only five inaugural poets in American history. Robert Frost was the first at President John Kennedy's 1961 inauguration. The others were Maya Angelou in 1993 for Bill Clinton; Miller Williams in 1997, again for Clinton; Alexander in 2009; and now, Blanco.
"We need to remember that it's not something you have to do," Alexander said. "You don't have to put culture on the program."
But there are things that can be said in poetry, she said, that can't be said in any other way.
That was the power of words, pulled from the heart and threaded together with utmost care and love. Those who know Blanco know that he will deliver.
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Geez, the world is going to hell and the gays are leading it there.
I thought the poetry excerpted here sounded sentimental and not very good.
While watching this gentleman read his works during the inauguration, i cared not (and knew not) that he was gay, or latino... all i wanted to know was, where's Maya Angelou? was she on vacation or something? and judging by the comments i saw in my facebook feed, a lot of people thought the same thing.
To whoever wanted Maya Angelou, get an education and find out the meaning of "poetry."
To Richard Blanco, your Inaugration poem was glorious, and we all want a date with you.
Obviously if this guy is gay, that means that Obama is trying to promote the gay community and alternative lifestyles. But just where would that leave our nation? I can completely understand that by the letter of the law gay marriage should be legal, but the letter of the law is not all there is. It is possible that some quite legitimate concerns and some real consequences about gay marriage can sound like gay-bashing to a bunch of left-wing bigots. Which is what you are doing, honestly. You want tolerance for gays/lesbians, but you refuse to tolerate anybody who says differently. Hypocrisy?
if it isn't supposed to matter if a person is gay or not, then why the headline? as if the picture isn't enough to tell me that he's tuti and fruti
Ok. There's nothing so special about this guy except that he's gay and latino. Don't take special as meaning good, either. I'm a Christian and don't believe in that stuff. Celebrating diversity is great and ok, but if the diversity is moral degradation, then of course no. That is anti-American. That's why people who don't belive the Bible think that being gay is ok. If you don't have a set standard of rules to abide by, anything can slide.
The bad thing about this country is that it's full of anti-somebody militants whose little brains can't fathom the concept of live and let's live, if it's not anti-gay, it's anti-latino or anti-meat eater or anti-left handed or whatever. The good thing is that it's not something that a good, solid punch in the nose can't fix when they get in your face.
Ill be honost folks i am gay myself but comon.... now your just rubbing it in peoples faces!!
OMG is he a hottie, yeah baby!!!
Hello Everyone,
It’s not about the poet, it’s about the poem. There are plenty of good Inaugural Poems on Amazon. Search for “Inaugural Poem 2013” or “Inauguration Poetry,” If you truly love poetry, or the President, or America, there is a rhyming poem by Ssal Nogard, for you people who don’t care for free verse.
Its ok to have a gay poet speak, but its not acceptable to have a anti gay preacher pray. This is discrimination no matter which way you look at it. Both these individuals speak based on what they believe.
Would you say the same if they had a preacher rant against a particular race?
Can you stay focused? The christ-cult "minister" withdrew HIMSELF! It was HIS choice. Nobody elses. And he did so AFTER the gay poet was named.
Is anyone surprised?
You are joking, right?
The man removed HIMSELF from the Inaugural proceedings. And he did so AFTER he found out the poet would be gay.
Is anyone surprised?
Hey everyone, check out this black astrophysicist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson! He's a black guy! That makes him so awesome!
If that statement didn't sound awkward or stupid to you – you have a serious problem. Let a mans merit be measured by what he contributes to the world by choice, not the things he wasn't given a choice over. Tyson is a fantastic speaker and one of my personal heroes for what he contributes to Science, and nothing else.
Amen
I, I, I, me, me, me – this is the sort of unstructured self-indulgence emperor's-new-clothes adolescents tap into their me-phones, hardly poetry.
This is sad. Our Lord does not approve of his ugly, unholy lifestyle. All in the name of political correctness? This makes me sick. We need our Christian country back – NOW.
What do you mean "our" lord? It's "your" lord, not mine. And 1/3 of the world is not religious so it's not their lord either.
We Americans don't have lords. Some of you religious people may have one, but in civil matters there are no lords.
You are the sad one.Ask your Lord to help eradicate your bigotry & ignorance.All the negative comments about this article glaringly indicate we still have a way to go in this country to accept the differences in us all.Please stop displaying how incredibly stupid some of you truly are.Go watch championship "wrestling"...more in step.
So leave. Buy a one-way steerage passage to, oh, say, Iran or Saudi Arabia. I hear they're looking for people like YOU.
If those who profess to be Christian would complete some historical research ( as I have done – well over 12 years) you will know that Christianity and Jesus Christ is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated. Do the research and once you do, you will no longer be a Chrsitian ( which is no more than Paganism).
Nice poetry.
It's good that he is Latino, is he from Italy and will the poems be in LATIN?
lol
All I am saying is that I would like to live in a world where we don't need to point out that someone is gay, straight, pink or purple. I just want us to be known as human beings and not care what the other person is. Not really sure why you felt the need to insult me, Jackson.
The parents fled Castro's Communist regime. CNN can't bring themselves to equate communism with desperate people wanting to flee.
His poetry sounds kind of gay
Well, so much for my attention span.... Read the word GAY...... and that was it.... later....
You read the word "gay," and that was it....
I don't think so, jusme101. You took the time to sign in to the blog, and leave your slur, so that was not it..... "It" is going to be with you for a long, long time, b/c it is clearly eating at you.
Well -said, wise oldowl.
Ever since Anita Bryant, anti-gays have sought to keep LGBT Americans at the fringe of American society, but today they find that they themselves are at the fringe, as we saw from the withdrawal of the hateful, anti-gay minister just as this poet is at the very center of our country's public life. Whining from the fringe will not change your fringe status, anti-gays, your whining is why you were shoved there in the first place. Face the fact, Americans on the whole have just had it with whining anti-gays.
lol. That is one special pick.
So was he actually chosen for his talent as a poet, or are his other attributes more important ? Given the way the article is worded, I am not sure.
TheBigSarge,
"so, his only claim to fame is that he is a poet that got the nod for being gay?"
No. He's an award-winning author.
Next time, read the story before making foolish comments.
i read the story and the poems, and now i think the president should have held a contest for gay latino high school students to write the poem instead.
Does he want to be remembered for his lifestyle or his talent as a poet?
If you have to ask that question you know nothing about American history or the people of your own country. Very sad.
Yea when they say gay poet, I'm like, "I don't want to hear that poem, NASTY!"
Why say "gay poet", just say "a poet"; you don't say "straight poet" if referring to a straight guy. He is a person and a poet, end of story. Whatever his lifestyle is or his preferences are, it's his business and no one's; most of the critics here are beneath this person for writing nasty comments.
I totally agree. What purpose or necessity is fulfilled by stating that the man is gay? So what? He is a man who is a poet who will have an important job at the inauguration. That is the only thing that matters.
"What purpose or necessity is fulfilled by stating that the man is gay?"
Easy, it demonstrates that while LGBT Americans are accepted in all walks of American life, including public life, anti-gays are now restricted to the fringe of American society–and whining from the anti-gays at the fringe won't change that.
What do you know of his lifestyle?
See, this is what ticks people off. It isn't that he is gay, or of a certain ethnic group, it's that for whatever reason, it must be pointed out that he is gay and of a certain ethnic group. Why can't he just be, "Richard Blanco, Poet."
Untrue. Just be who you are and that is enough.
And who he is is a gay latino. What exactly are you complaining about? Be who you are but don't tell anyone?
And it's absolutely true. You might have noticed some changes in how gays are perceived in society. It's because we came out and people learned that we're their neighbors, friends, co-workers, family members....even inaugural poets. Never would have happened if we let the lying bigots define us.
Yeah, like the gay dude in my neighborhood that was just hauled away to prison for attacking an underage boy
My reply above was intended as a reply to your comment, so here it is again: If you have to ask that question you know nothing about American history or the people of your own country. Very sad.
Thanks huhb! Your spot on my friend. Minority communities have to fight for respect from the "majority", whatever that majority might be.
you must mean "we could HAVE hit the jackpot"....this country's national obsession with reality TV and celebrities is on a par with the lack of education, and ignorance – so aptly demonstrated in this post....
His poems are about the lack of glory holes in modem day America.
I would not know that look but it is a good guess.
Certainly no looker! The dude is ugly.
Go out and get a life.
Does one need to appear appealing to be a successful writer? I thought we looked at the words > not them...
Why do we need a poet for the inauguration? What purpose does this serve? No one reads poety anymore.
Your seedy, smarmy thoughts are all in vain, and yet
like wading through a sewer, hoping not to get wet
The crap that this guy rights in not poetry.
Oh really??? Not at all true. Have mommy read you a poem before she puts you down for your nap.
He does not like straight people. He should be disqualified from participating becuase he does not agree with a hetro lifestyle. Sounds crazy doesn't it. This is the exact positon gays take when a hetro does not agree with their lifestyle like the preacher that has backed out of the inauguration due to gays not liking his comments from 15 years ago. Backlash is a coming for LGBT.
Backlash, huh? We've only been dealing with that for about two thousand years. Bring it, beeoch!
He could read me a bed times nursery rhymes any old night..
You and me both! Oof!
I just blew my O ring thinking about him!
benjamin, you made my night " that was a good one " the dude is really hot "yeah baby"
I think its absolutely fabulous.. And, he is such a hottie, tottie.. Obama has a great straight I for the gay guy..
How wonderful! Congratulations Blanco!
He's fully clothed, and it's a profile, not a full length picture. What exactly is wrong with the angle that his body happened to be in when the picture was taken? Also, it's one of the three pictures of himself on his website, and I would say the most flattering picture. You're trying way too hard to be offended here
I'm not offended. Just asking a question since I'm not of the gay persuasion.
Being gay is NOT a "persuasion." It is a gift from God. You are either born with it, or you're not.
A picture of Katherine Webb (Brent Musberger's dream girl) would have been a better choice.
This article is not about her, is it, Einstein?
Is he going to give the benediction as well, since the preacher bowed out?
One can only hope.....
Or maybe the Rev. Al Sharpton. He's always available.
What? that bigot?
Why, why do you want to say and think such things?
Makes sense! Thanks AmeriKA!
I am now more convinced that "gay" men are, generally, the handsomest and to top it all – intelligent.
Congratulations Blanco. Powerful words!
To tell you the truth, it was the only photo we had of him that fit in our blog layout. But just wondering - if he were not gay, would you say the same thing?
Well he can not be any worse than the incohearant drivel the the "poet"( and I use the term Loosly) that was selected at his last inaugeration if any of you recall. LOL
And if you go back to school, you may learn how to spell!
Bed?! It's a hammock. Where is your mind?
Isnt a hammock a type of bed? Do you just feel the need to insult random ppl your dont know?
Sadly, the US would be best represented by Homer Simpson. Any variance from that level of intelligence or culture is not understood or supported by the majority of US citizens.
Speak for yourself.
If it weren't so true I'd be mad at that.
why not just say poet chosen for inaugural and give his name why give all these details he is this and that? i now see why people like alex jones yell at you guys.too much information folks
You were forced to stare at it? What forced you – your subconscious?
Looking at their screen is what most people do when they wait for a page to load. Don't play shmart. That's of course if you don't have a habit to avoid looking at your own screen. But if you do, that would call for a question of what makes you not to look at your screen.
i must honestly say that I was not aware poet was still a viable career choice......
Its what he does when not wiating tables
Oh? Are you his bus boy?
Why do we need to know whether the man is gay and Latino? If it was a straight and white man would they say we welcome the openly straight white man John Jacob Jingle Heimer Smith.
Actually, John Jacob Jingle Heimer Smith was a German-English, Middle European man.
Are we supposed to stand and cheer because a gay man is going to speak? Why do we need to know that this man is gay or Latino? Is this really news?
Intimidated by the gay latino, are we Jon????? Or just turned-on, horrified at yourself and in need of someone to bash.....
Yes, Jon, we need to know this man is gay and Latino, because -besides his beautiful writing – Obama chose him as a political statement! Yes, Obama is a politician, did you know that? And politicians do this type of things! Is that wrong? No, it's the way politics work!!! Politicians use specific people to state their position about something. Why is that wrong??
Thank you for iterating that MIC! People are so stupid and jealous these days, and it's so amazing that our President is allowing visibility to the gay community. Hopefully there will be a day when we don't have to know that the person is a gay, Latino, Black, Asian, or whatever minority, because we won't care, but sadly I doubt this will ever happen. Bigotry and racism is unfortunately a human condition.
Because we do not need to know that he is anything except a great poet and that's it. Being gay or Latino does not make him special. Telling us that he is gay an Latino makes it sound like he has some disability and we are supposed to feel sorry for him. How about reporting news that actually means something. How about the fact that we live in the richest country in the world and we are doing nothing for our homeless people. How about the fact that our schools are not being properly protected from maniacs with guns but our shopping malls and grocery stores are. We cant fund additional police for schools but we have to fund Obama phones for those in the inner cities.
For those who disapprove of President Obama choosing Richardo Blanco as the inaugural poet; your welcome to hop on another Mayflower, and sail to a new world.
Are you talking about what happened to Native Americans?
We might approve him as a poet (assuming it is his poetry that made him selected for the inaguration) but we don't care to know whether he is a gay or Latino.
This is awesome! I can't wait to hear Richard Blanco's poem when I watch the inauguration. I hope that President Obama continues to show more support for gay rights during his second term. Gays are Americans too and deserve to have equal rights.
Except for the gov not acknowledging their love, what rights doesnt the gay community have? Are they not allowed to take out loans? Are they not allowed on buses or subways? Are they not allowed to adopt? Are they not allowed to go to school or get an education? What exactly cant a gay person do?
He is beautiful.
Now are we being so friggin politically correct. Obama, you are a piece of work!
Could it possibly be that he likes his poetry? Get over yourself!
Why is this being politically correct, how about just, that this poet was chosen for his inspiring work. Nothing wrong in that.
That's a criticism I've heard - about being PC. But I really think Obama relates to the multicultural world Blanco writes about. His poetry is quite powerful.
I dont find his poetry all that great. Definitely wouldnt call it "powerful". Seems very run of the mill to me.
funny, people will begin bashing and hissing, yet probably didn't even know there was a such thing as an inaugural poet.
Robert Frost was the poet at John F Kennedy's inauguration.
And what a world of difference that was. Frost wrote poetry as opposed to an ill-constructed stream of consciousness that this buffoon vomits forth.
inb4 Ruben Navvarrette bashes Obama for picking the 'wrong' type of Latino.
LOL omg seriously thats SOOO something ruben would do.
lol!! And you know its coming too.
@naija folk: "who is Obama gaining votes for?"
All tolerant people in America, which happen to be the majority.
'It's about the "victim group" identification strategy designed to make a majority out of minorities.'
what, you think that if they do this long enough we will all become gay latinos?
"All tolerant people"? Man, are you misguided.
Hm, do you know his poetry?
I find his poetry to be beautiful and inspiring (along with a few other people including critics and award givers).
I don't think Blanco was picked because of who he is but rather, his writing reflects a modern-day American experience. And some of you have said his poetry is not that good. But I think his way with words is quite powerful.
Really!? I'm surprised Obama didn't find a gay, Latino, disabled veteran to do this for even more votes
Many Americans were schooled only in English and American poetry. But now there are wonderful translations available that allow us access to unique and splendid poetry of other nations. Latin America has some fabulous poetry and you would do well to listen to it. Don't limit your world to what is familiar to you; new horizons are available.
I am not Latin American but I am so grateful for how their poetry has enriched my life and that of friends.
Keep an open mind to beauty; that is the American way at root anyhow. Enjoy !
No issues with your statements, but just so that maybe you and others reading understand, Cubans do not consider themselves Latin Americans. They are Caribbeans, primarily of Spanish and African decent.
Thanks for pointing out that distinction; I had not realized that. In point of fact, I do not know the work of this poet, nor any Cuban poets (that I am aware of), but I guess I tend to use the term Latin American to distinguish from Spain. I look forward to learning more about yet another cultural group. I am certainly aware of politics, but I wish people would just relax and try something new. Whatever happened to merit? Whatever happened to variety? Whatever happened to being a citizen of the world?
Check your facts...wasn't Rita Dove the national poet laureate? You reported Natasha Trethewey would be the first African American poet laureate
Yes, you are right; Rita Dove was an American poet laureate, and a wonderful one. Thanks for reminding us.
WOW!!!! Each and every one of the previous posters is a sour-grapes-fox, raunchy example of Americans.....so sad that anyone, let alone CNN permits you to spew your vitriol rants and venomous opinions.
Except maybe sassysticks53.....
So you don't believe in freedom of speech? And I'm sure you figure yourself as "liberal". Yeah, that's what I thought.
Further proof the US is now being run to the benefit of minorities. This country is so over.
lol! Oh, well. See ya!
Agreed.
It's now official: America has jumped the shark.
thanks for the hyperbole.
How do you possibly come to this conclusion, what o earth is wrong with this choice of poet ?
I'm so sorry for all of us that you feel that way.
Personally, I think he writes some of the most beautiful and truly American poetry I've read in a long time. His poem "Looking for the Gulf Motel" actually brought a tear to my eye the first time I read it because I could identify so strongly with the sense of an erased childhood caused by the constant redevelopment of "old Florida" into these new, sterile condos built for the tourists and snowbirds. But I wouldn't expect you to actually read his work before passing judgement on his qualifications
Your ascendants, goodbyestarsnbars, were once minority, until they annihilated the Native Americans. Don't even forget that......
As it should be. The "majority" is the reason everything is so screwed up!!!!
Anything Obama can do to make him seem more accepting.
No, I believe President Obama was ACCEPTED by the American people on election day and your tax evading outsourcing communist friend was not.
You mean the man who knew how to run a successful business, and also the man who did indeed paid his taxes, and the man who also gave a far bigger % of his income to charity than our Current President. That guy?
Chicago40,
Romney's religion REQUIRES him to donate 10% to stay in good standings. Presumably he still is in good standings despite falling slightly below that requirement.
We don't know what he did in 10 of the last 12 years.
Not enough votes in that one.
who is Obama gaining votes for? that's what I thought.
No just no talent.