WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.160 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.160 --> 00:00:02.900 align:middle line:90% And I forgot I'm-- 00:00:02.900 --> 00:00:05.720 align:middle line:84% I said I would read one more other poem. 00:00:05.720 --> 00:00:14.790 align:middle line:84% This one's called " Tsílii," again, a sestina. 00:00:14.790 --> 00:00:18.570 align:middle line:84% I promise, if you ever start writing sestinas, 00:00:18.570 --> 00:00:22.350 align:middle line:90% you're going to be like me. 00:00:22.350 --> 00:00:25.230 align:middle line:84% You're going to be just writing them all the time because they 00:00:25.230 --> 00:00:29.940 align:middle line:84% really take a hold of you, and they just take your life over. 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:31.326 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:31.326 --> 00:00:33.150 align:middle line:90% "Tsílii." 00:00:33.150 --> 00:00:36.810 align:middle line:84% "Sometimes this guy just makes me laugh. 00:00:36.810 --> 00:00:40.260 align:middle line:84% Just as easily, he can make me see red, 00:00:40.260 --> 00:00:45.300 align:middle line:84% like when he tries to take off, as if he thirsts for freedom. 00:00:45.300 --> 00:00:49.260 align:middle line:84% Actually, he needs me like a dog needs a pack. 00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:52.740 align:middle line:84% Besides, he loves my crew cab truck. 00:00:52.740 --> 00:00:55.110 align:middle line:84% When he first noticed my jewelry, 00:00:55.110 --> 00:00:58.080 align:middle line:90% I became the woman for him. 00:00:58.080 --> 00:01:01.080 align:middle line:84% Not only that, but because I'm a Diné woman, 00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:04.319 align:middle line:90% his life revolves around me. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.890 align:middle line:84% Now he recognizes my laugh from a distance. 00:01:07.890 --> 00:01:10.620 align:middle line:84% Some evenings, we go for rides in the truck 00:01:10.620 --> 00:01:13.920 align:middle line:84% down Winding River Road, as the sky fills 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.440 align:middle line:90% with purple and red streaks. 00:01:16.440 --> 00:01:21.060 align:middle line:84% To the south, people walk along the Rillito, their dogs' noses 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:22.830 align:middle line:90% bent to the ground. 00:01:22.830 --> 00:01:26.260 align:middle line:84% The dogs are excited and thirsty. 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:30.060 align:middle line:84% A Diet Coke is enough to quench my thirst. 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:32.880 align:middle line:84% In the Southwest, the quintessential pleasures 00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:38.460 align:middle line:84% for women are a faithful car, good music, and good stories. 00:01:38.460 --> 00:01:42.780 align:middle line:84% We're not dogged by having to drive hundreds of miles. 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:46.500 align:middle line:84% We just reminisce, laugh, and sometimes sing. 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:50.490 align:middle line:84% During trips north to Shiprock, dust turns everything red 00:01:50.490 --> 00:01:55.020 align:middle line:84% as the vast Salt River Canyon welcomes my truck. 00:01:55.020 --> 00:02:00.360 align:middle line:84% It is, as we used to say, we keep on trucking 00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:03.360 align:middle line:84% through whatever may come our way. 00:02:03.360 --> 00:02:07.890 align:middle line:84% Our thirst for stories and laughter never ceases. 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:12.180 align:middle line:84% Once, I read that animals make life complete. 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:17.670 align:middle line:84% But a woman like me needs more than that, I thought and laugh. 00:02:17.670 --> 00:02:21.660 align:middle line:84% Then I remembered the cats, rabbits, chickens, 00:02:21.660 --> 00:02:25.650 align:middle line:84% and dogs of my childhood, how Lobo, Snazzy, 00:02:25.650 --> 00:02:29.070 align:middle line:84% and Tłog'í didn't seem like dogs. 00:02:29.070 --> 00:02:33.720 align:middle line:84% They listened, ever alert, while lying under Daddy's truck. 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:36.990 align:middle line:90% They probably never even slept. 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:41.970 align:middle line:84% Sometimes, they even seemed to laugh when we spoke English. 00:02:41.970 --> 00:02:44.790 align:middle line:84% But back to this other guy, he thirsts 00:02:44.790 --> 00:02:48.810 align:middle line:84% to be near me, even when I'm driving. 00:02:48.810 --> 00:02:52.170 align:middle line:90% Move over, I say. 00:02:52.170 --> 00:02:56.310 align:middle line:84% A woman needs space and no distractions. 00:02:56.310 --> 00:03:01.380 align:middle line:84% Sit on your side before red lights come flashing. 00:03:01.380 --> 00:03:04.710 align:middle line:84% I'll be handcuffed and read my rights, 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:07.690 align:middle line:90% and you won't even care. 00:03:07.690 --> 00:03:11.646 align:middle line:84% Act like a dog and look out the window, I said. 00:03:11.646 --> 00:03:13.140 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:03:13.140 --> 00:03:16.170 align:middle line:84% He knows when a woman means business. 00:03:16.170 --> 00:03:19.770 align:middle line:84% He moves slowly over to the passenger side door 00:03:19.770 --> 00:03:25.860 align:middle line:84% and looks at me, his dark shiny eyes thirsty for affection. 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:29.970 align:middle line:84% He gets the same look when I laugh unexpectedly. 00:03:29.970 --> 00:03:35.850 align:middle line:84% And he doesn't laugh when I talk English, like those rez dogs. 00:03:35.850 --> 00:03:41.370 align:middle line:84% But those dogs instilled in me a thirst for a sleek, little dog, 00:03:41.370 --> 00:03:47.070 align:middle line:84% a tsílii who likes trucks and lives only to make his mom 00:03:47.070 --> 00:03:49.170 align:middle line:90% a happy woman." 00:03:49.170 --> 00:03:51.920 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER]