WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.420 align:middle line:90%


00:00:05.420 --> 00:00:08.720 align:middle line:90%
"Refugees in Our Own Land."

00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:12.830 align:middle line:84%
"The night is busy with the
growth of stars above us,

00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:13.970 align:middle line:90%
peaceful.

00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:18.890 align:middle line:84%
Shiyáázh, my son, fusses
in his cradle board.

00:00:18.890 --> 00:00:21.920 align:middle line:84%
The protective rainbow
shaped by his father

00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:26.480 align:middle line:84%
arches over his face
in the dark sand below.

00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.300 align:middle line:84%
Monster slayer's arch
enemy rises again

00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:33.260 align:middle line:84%
to pull us off this rock,
where we've taken refuge

00:00:33.260 --> 00:00:35.720 align:middle line:90%
since winter's approach.

00:00:35.720 --> 00:00:37.430 align:middle line:90%
The wind stops.

00:00:37.430 --> 00:00:40.280 align:middle line:90%
Clouds drift across the Moon.

00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:44.570 align:middle line:84%
We pull water silently from
below near the soldiers' feet.

00:00:44.570 --> 00:00:47.150 align:middle line:90%
Silence is our cover.

00:00:47.150 --> 00:00:50.900 align:middle line:84%
I pull my son close and place
my hand on my baby's cheek

00:00:50.900 --> 00:00:52.520 align:middle line:90%
to quiet him.

00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:56.450 align:middle line:84%
'Sssh, shee'awéé,
shiyázhí, Sssh.

00:00:56.450 --> 00:00:57.530 align:middle line:90%
Hush, baby.

00:00:57.530 --> 00:00:59.840 align:middle line:90%
My beloved, hush.'

00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:04.010 align:middle line:84%
With my finger, I circle the
pulse just above his ear.

00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:07.280 align:middle line:84%
He makes tiny lapping
sounds with his mouth,

00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:11.720 align:middle line:84%
and turns toward my breast
for the comfort of my milk.

00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:15.650 align:middle line:84%
But my breast is a sieve
from which the enemy drinks.

00:01:15.650 --> 00:01:17.660 align:middle line:90%
I am dry.

00:01:17.660 --> 00:01:20.840 align:middle line:84%
These hands mixed bread
dough for the evening meal,

00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.770 align:middle line:84%
planted corn and gather
pollen from the tender shoots.

00:01:24.770 --> 00:01:27.770 align:middle line:84%
These hands held
my husband's kisses

00:01:27.770 --> 00:01:32.930 align:middle line:84%
and caressed my baby's soft
bones as he grew inside me.

00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:37.370 align:middle line:84%
We sailed a river that led us
to the ocean of all beginnings.

00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:40.040 align:middle line:90%
The night cries like an owl.

00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:43.880 align:middle line:84%
My beloved son's eyes are
full of stars, a drowning

00:01:43.880 --> 00:01:46.010 align:middle line:90%
breath in his throat.

00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:49.580 align:middle line:84%
Take this map of
rainbows and fly.

00:01:49.580 --> 00:01:52.970 align:middle line:90%
Fly, child."

00:01:52.970 --> 00:01:58.490 align:middle line:84%
That is one of the stories
that my grandmother told me,

00:01:58.490 --> 00:02:02.090 align:middle line:84%
even though she said
our ancestors didn't

00:02:02.090 --> 00:02:03.320 align:middle line:90%
go on the long walk.

00:02:03.320 --> 00:02:07.100 align:middle line:84%
But she had heard stories
of other relatives

00:02:07.100 --> 00:02:11.230 align:middle line:84%
whose stories
appear in this book.