A Line of Silver, Threaded Through Dust
This blog post is generously provided in kind by Safiyya Bintali. The Double Down blog is also supported by Nevada Humanities’ donors.
By Safiyya Bintali
Image courtesy of Safiyya Bintali.
“Water.”
The third college essay prompt choice, consisting of just those five letters. Water. Even all these years later, I remember how it unbalanced the rest of the list, that single word precariously placed beneath the multi-question paragraphs that made up prompts one and two. That long-ago fall, thousands of others alongside me also looked at that word. And undoubtedly, not one of us came up with the same response.
After all, physically, the form water takes changes depending on what it is contained in. It does the same for us—it is shaped by our experiences. For some of us, water is the wolf contained in growling rapids, leaping past rocks or the gentle ambient noise of waves lapping the shore, ceaselessly. For others, it is an attempt at the philosophical question of glasses being half full or empty, or a rallying cry for conservation.
Whatever the undergraduate admissions committee read that fall, it meant the same thing in the end. Water is life. Not only because of chemistry and biology, but because that is what it is defined by.
“Perhaps it isn’t the majestic sea or a place to paddle, but it is a sparkling remnant after the rare storm, one that quenches the soul like it quenches the earth.”
For those of us that live in the desert, the way it shows up in our lives is distinct from places that are nicknamed “10,000 Lakes” or see what feels like buckets of it coming down each week. This does not mean to say that we don’t have those “traditional” experiences with water; after all, Lake Mead’s in the news often enough, and we do have a monsoon season. But, these vast, natural quantities—these bodies of water—are not always the first thing that comes to mind. For me, I always think of the Pittman Wash after a rare bout of rain, which I illustrated for the cover of Monsoon Season: Las Vegas Writers on Water in the Desert—the 16th volume of Las Vegas Writes.
While I have heard it roar when a storm passes through, the most water I have seen in the Wash are the dregs, once the air has dried up a bit and the ground has soaked in most of the moisture. The clouds are still packed tightly in the sky, but the sun pokes out, gold-white veins promising a brighter day. And there it is, stretching the length of the Wash’s bed, a ribbon of silver water. It’s like you took a hammer to the bed and shattered it, uncovering a plate of light beneath, unevenly shining through the rock and brush and weeds. Yet, this little stream—it’s always temporary. It comes back, but you never know quite when; so, when you see it, you break away from your path to follow it. Along the way, you discover tiny versions of the great monuments it mimics: a waterfall trickling over a pile of pebbles, a little pool that begins to attract wildlife. Perhaps it isn’t the majestic sea or a place to paddle, but it is a sparkling remnant after the rare storm, one that quenches the soul like it quenches the earth.
The desert—it is full of these little oases.
As you venture through this volume of Las Vegas Writes, you will have the opportunity to see the many ways other locals live and share the experience of water. Through it, you will become that college essay prompt: across histories of the Valley and of its people, poems and reminiscences, letters and photos, water will be redefined, over and over.
Safiyya Bintali is a writer, artist, and eLearning professional. Her comics and short fiction have been featured in Las Vegas Writes, Pictura Journal, Devoid Magazine, and Bridge Eight Press, among others. Her illustrations are upcoming in multiple children's and YA projects, and she has most recently illustrated the story collection Fabulous Fables and Fairytales: with a Twist (Grosvenor House Publishing, 2022). Also an educator, Safiyya teaches, develops curriculum for literature courses, and often guest lectures on the topic of comics. Visit www.safiyyabintali.com to find more of her work.