Don’t bother the earth spirit who lives here. She is working on a story. It is
the oldest story in the world and it is delicate, changing. If she sees you
watching she will invite you in for coffee, give you warm bread, and you will
be obligated to stay and listen. But this is no ordinary story. You will have to
endure earthquakes, lightning, the deaths of all those you love, the most
blinding beauty. It’s a story so compelling you may never want to leave; this
is how she traps you. See that stone finger over there? That is the only one
who ever escaped.

Copyright Credit: Joy Harjo, “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit” from Secrets from the Center of the World. Copyright © 1999 by The Arizona Board of Regents. Used by permission of The University of Arizona Press.