Old Country

by Matt Query

I was sitting on the porch, pulling burrs out of Dash’s tail and belly.

Burrs, that’s how you say “cadillos” in English

“How do you know all of this? How do you know the meaning and, well…the message behind it all?” Joe smirked a bit, something I’d never actually seen him do, then he shrugged. “I don’t. These are just stories, oral histories that’ve been passed down by my people. This spirit’s older than us, older than the first of my ancestors who lived in this old country. Over time, any group of people will eventually assign meaning to the unexplainable.”