Transborder Immigrant Tool Series: Desert Fruits ‘Dethorned, Dethroned,’ Can Be ‘Delectably Edible’
The fifth poem in "The Desert Survival Series/La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto" tells readers they can survive up to three weeks without eating in the desert, but that certain fruits can safely fill one's belly during the dangerous journey across the U.S.- Mexico border.
The tuna, a desert fruit featured in the fifth poem in “The Desert Survival Series,” is not only edible, it’s delicious. (Carola Jacobs / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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 each of these poems in both Spanish and English in our Poetry section, accompanied with bilingual audio recordings by various contributors to the project. To read the first, second, third and fourth poems in the series, click on the hyperlinks. For more information on the project, watch the video presentation below.
The fifth poem in “The Desert Survival Series/La serie de sobrevivencia del desierto,” read in English by Amy Sara Carroll and in Spanish by Natasha Hakimi Zapata.
5.
You can survive without eating anything for three weeks in hot weather. But the body’s need for hydration is a different matter entirely. Consume the fruit of prickly pear, saguaro, organ pipe, yucca or cholla for their moisture alone.
***
In the summertime, pitahaya dulce, the fruit of the organ pipe cactus, ripens to red and drops its spines. The prickly pear cactus’ tuna reddens to purple, but never loses its needles. Dethorned, dethroned, both are delectably edible. Peel their skins.
En climas cálidos, puede sobrevivir hasta tres semanas sin comer nada. No obstante, la necesidad de hidratación del cuerpo humano es un problema completamente distinto. Consuma las tunas del nopal, saguaro, órgano, yuca y cholla, aunque solo sea por su contenido liquido.
***
En el verano, la pitaya dulce, la fruta del cactus organo, se torna roja y pierde sus espinas al madurar. La tuna se torna un color morado, mas nunca pierde sus púas. Destronadas, desespinadas, ambas son deliciosas. QuÃteles la piel.
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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.
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.
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