Shonto Begay, artist, writer, poet, and filmmaker, was born into the Navajo nation, USA. “In My Mother’s Kitchen”,
introduced for reading and exam below, displays some clues of Native American culture that are especifically connected to
word choices represented by:
Fragrance of fresh tortillas and corn stew
Fills my mother’s kitchen
Sparsely furnished
Crowded with
warmth
Soot-grayed walls, secretive and blank
She moves gently in and out of light
Like a dream just out of reach
The morning light gives her a
halo
That plays upon her crown of dark hair
Strong brown hands caress soft mounds of
dough She gazes out into the warming day
Past sagebrush hills, out towards the foot of Black
Mesa How far would she let the goats wander today
Before it rains
Childhood dreams and warmth
Tight in my throat, tears in my eyes
The radio softly tuned to a local AM station
News of ceremonies and chapter meetings
And funerals
Flows into the peaceful kitchen
Lines upon her face, features carved of hard
times Lines around her eyes, creases of happy
times Bittersweet tears and ringing silvery
laughter
I ache in my heart
My mother’s gentle movements light up dark
corners Her gentle smiles recall childhood dreams still
so alive
My mother moves in and out of
light Like clouds on days of
promising rain
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