WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.990 align:middle line:84% And this one's "Rio Grande Valley Redux". 00:00:03.990 --> 00:00:09.330 align:middle line:84% And I guess Juan Felipe Herrera included it in a volume of work 00:00:09.330 --> 00:00:11.910 align:middle line:84% that he put in the Library of Congress, so-- 00:00:11.910 --> 00:00:15.810 align:middle line:84% I haven't seen it, but it was sent to him. 00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:17.400 align:middle line:90% Uno. 00:00:17.400 --> 00:00:23.010 align:middle line:84% I've returned after lifetimes in far off geographies, miles 00:00:23.010 --> 00:00:26.260 align:middle line:84% from these boundless Texas skies. 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:28.650 align:middle line:84% Here's nowhere to hide from the sun. 00:00:28.650 --> 00:00:32.880 align:middle line:84% My tiny Texas home smiles with good JuJu. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.160 align:middle line:84% In every window, a quartz crystal 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:37.620 align:middle line:84% suspended from knotted silk cord. 00:00:37.620 --> 00:00:42.280 align:middle line:84% Tightly braided sweetgrass discreetly placed over doors. 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:46.290 align:middle line:84% Floors swept clean with a special broom that knows 00:00:46.290 --> 00:00:48.240 align:middle line:90% how to summon up the wind. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:52.140 align:middle line:84% Corners of rooms transformed into shrines. 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:55.650 align:middle line:84% Foresighted stones who watch like guard 00:00:55.650 --> 00:00:58.110 align:middle line:90% dogs when no one is home. 00:00:58.110 --> 00:01:02.580 align:middle line:84% Cedarwood rain stick carved into the shape of Coatl 00:01:02.580 --> 00:01:06.240 align:middle line:84% sounds on its own, portends storms 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:09.300 align:middle line:84% that swell up from the Gulf without warning. 00:01:09.300 --> 00:01:12.360 align:middle line:84% From its driftwood stand, the ocean drum 00:01:12.360 --> 00:01:14.940 align:middle line:84% answers questions no one knew they'd 00:01:14.940 --> 00:01:18.000 align:middle line:84% asked with the silent medicine bundles 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:23.460 align:middle line:84% who only listen nestled in their colorful cloths only cough. 00:01:23.460 --> 00:01:29.490 align:middle line:84% A rare assemblage of many years collected relics of my life 00:01:29.490 --> 00:01:35.760 align:middle line:84% finally stashed here, the place I was first conceived. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:37.080 align:middle line:90% Dos. 00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:40.590 align:middle line:84% The Mesquite trees with their rich verdant fronds 00:01:40.590 --> 00:01:46.470 align:middle line:84% and open welcome home branches as always stoop on bended knee 00:01:46.470 --> 00:01:50.190 align:middle line:84% in abuela's front yard, where in my youth daily 00:01:50.190 --> 00:01:53.460 align:middle line:84% I sat and wrote letters to my first love 00:01:53.460 --> 00:01:57.900 align:middle line:84% en route to his promise, fighting shy of Vietnam. 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:01.680 align:middle line:84% My life with all its unsure detours, 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.380 align:middle line:84% its arroyo deep yearnings to forget, 00:02:04.380 --> 00:02:08.160 align:middle line:84% and still the recurring dreams of these ancestral 00:02:08.160 --> 00:02:11.009 align:middle line:84% tierras that always called me back. 00:02:11.009 --> 00:02:16.390 align:middle line:84% Rancho La Yegua, La Sana, a La Sana, La Sana, 00:02:16.390 --> 00:02:20.250 align:middle line:90% a La Sana on the GPS. 00:02:20.250 --> 00:02:24.660 align:middle line:84% I lie here on this plane brown Earth, looking up 00:02:24.660 --> 00:02:27.720 align:middle line:84% at the biggest skies I've ever covered myself with, 00:02:27.720 --> 00:02:32.130 align:middle line:84% thinking of all my abuelas who've lived, who've loved, 00:02:32.130 --> 00:02:35.490 align:middle line:90% who've died here at La Sana. 00:02:35.490 --> 00:02:39.510 align:middle line:84% Bisabuela, Mamá Tima, the one who liked La Sana, 00:02:39.510 --> 00:02:41.670 align:middle line:90% was called by many names. 00:02:41.670 --> 00:02:46.470 align:middle line:84% Curandera, portray, huesera, y bruja también. 00:02:46.470 --> 00:02:53.220 align:middle line:84% Pero yo le llamo Shamana Somnium y todavía la siento aquí. 00:02:53.220 --> 00:02:58.950 align:middle line:84% She is still here and now so am I. 00:02:58.950 --> 00:03:00.800 align:middle line:90% Let me get water.