Transborder Immigrant Tool Series: What to Expect and Do if Stung by an Arizona Bark Scorpion
The 12th poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" warns those crossing the U.S.-Mexico border that though a sting by an Arizona bark scorpion is, for the most part, not lethal, it requires medical attention.
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The Transborder Immigrant Tool is a GPS cellphone safety-net tool for crossing the Mexico-U.S. border. It was developed by Electronic Disturbance Theater/b.a.n.g. lab in 2007 by artists Micha Cárdenas, Amy Sara Carroll, Ricardo Dominguez, Elle Mehrmand and Brett Stalbaum, in conjunction with CALIT2/Visual Arts Department/University of California, San Diego/Program in American Culture, Latina/o Studies/English Department/University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Poet Amy Sara Carroll wrote a series of 24 poems titled “The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto,” which were uploaded onto cellphones equipped with simple compasses and interfaces. Each poem is a form of lyrical advice that provides readers and listeners with tools for every hour of a day spent in the pernicious borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico. Truthdig is publishing these poems in Spanish and English in our Poetry section, accompanied by bilingual audio recordings. To read the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th poems in the series, click on the hyperlinks. For more information on the project, watch the video presentation below.
The 12th poem in “The Desert Survival Series/La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto,” read in English by Meryem Kamil and Spanish by Natasha Hakimi Zapata.
12.
For most, the bite of the translucent yellow and brown-striped Arizona bark scorpion is not lethal. Scorpions, night-walkers, seek cool, dark, moist hiding places during the day. If you are stung by a scorpion, clean the wound; do not eat anything for eight hours. It is possible for you to recover. In contrast, a brown recluse spider’s bite is literally “a force of nature.” Expect chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, rashes, hives, an ulcer that will continue to grow in size unless the wound is excised and medically treated. Found in dead wood and debris, the brown recluse carries a dark, violin-shaped trademark on its back.
Para la mayorÃa, la mordedura del alacrán de corteza de Arizona, de un color amarillo translúcido y estriado café, no es letal. Los escorpiones, caminantes nocturnos, buscan escondites frescos, oscuros y húmedos durante el dÃa. Si le pica un escorpión, limpie la herida; no coma nada por ocho horas. Es posible que se recupere. Por el contrario, la mordedura de una araña parda reclusa es literalmente “una fuerza de la naturaleza”. Espere escalofrÃos, fiebre, nausea, vómitos, sarpullido, irritación, y una úlcera que seguirá creciendo a menos que la herida sea extirpada y tratada medicamente. Hallada en la madera seca y en escombros, la araña parda reclusa lleva en su espalda una marca distintiva y oscura en forma de violin.
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The 11th poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" urges those crossing the border to phone for help immediately in life-and-death situations.
The 10th poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" debunks certain myths about the hairy arachnids, while explaining what will certainly occur to those who taunt the tarantula.
The ninth poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" explains that Africanized bees, even when unprovoked, will attack humans.
The eighth poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" provides crucial tips the desert traveler can use as the sand turns to "sandpaper" and the heat suffocates during a journey across the Mexico-US border The eighth poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" provides crucial tips the desert traveler can use as the sand turns to "sandpaper" and the heat suffocates a journey across the Mexico-U .
The seventh poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" explains how clusters of cottonwood trees indicate a nearby spring, a crucial tip to surviving the desert border crossing between Mexico and the United States.
The sixth poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" tells us that while taste—like poetry—may seem irrelevant as one risks one's life crossing the US- Mexico border, it can be a means of survival The sixth poem in "The Desert Survival Series / La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" tells us that while taste—like poetry—may seem irrelevant as one risks one's life crossing the U- Mexico border, it can be used as a means of survival .
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