This piece is-- when that tale was actually
assigned-- the topic was assigned to me under a project
from the Sonora Desert Museum.
And we were given a plant name.
Or we actually were given a list of desert plants,
and we were asked to choose a plant
and write a piece on the plant.
And I chose the creosote.
In O'odham it's called--
well, I call it Ṣeṣgei, and other O'odham have a similar
word for it as well.
"Creosote, or Greasewood."
"Like a story that never ends, a song stuck in your head,
a rainstorm disturbs the settled words.
They move in a breeze.
A waxy sheen glistens and creates a passage.
Breathe.
Ṣeṣgei, s-ap u:w The aroma of the story embeds itself
in our memory like the pain of a broken heart,
a memory cut fresh by as summer rain.
Ṣeṣgei ku:bs kekaj 'o e-kulañmad. An g e-kulañmad,
e-mo'o 'an c an e-gekkio, kc e-hon, c e-kakkio, we:sko.
Tt hab masma hab 'o t-wuad. T-kulañmad.
With the smoke, we are healed.
Heads, shoulders, legs, the mind, the entire body,
we are whole again.
The smoke permeates the skin.
With the slightest sign of moisture,
we will be moved to tell a story."