Enchanted Air: List 2

by Margarita Engle
In this memoir, poet Margarita Engle recounts her childhood in Cuba and the United States during the Cold War.

This list covers "Winged Summer."

Here are links to our lists for the memoir: List 1, List 2, List 3
25 words 55 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. turbulence
    instability in the atmosphere
    Turbulence shakes us.
    Gusts of wind threaten to send
    the plane crashing down
    into deep blue water
    between shorelines.
  2. rogue
    disposed to or engaged in defiance of authority or rules
    I’m not really sure who I am anymore,
    my everyday
    shy bookworm
    school-year
    North American self...
    or this new person,
    the rogue island girl
    who feels almost
    as brave
    as
    a
    boy.
  3. reverence
    a feeling of profound respect for someone or something
    I bite into the sour sweetness
    of that homegrown green lime
    with reverence.
  4. thatch
    cover with roofing material made of plant stalks
    In a neighbor’s dirt-floored,
    palm- thatched hut,
    I see how few objects
    some people own.
  5. bridle
    headgear for a horse
    Everything here is handmade,
    except for the silvery metal bit
    that spins
    and gleams
    in a leather bridle.
  6. bay
    a horse of a reddish-brown color with a dark tail and mane
    Just a horse—I can see him
    through the open doorway,
    a dark-red bay with black legs,
    and a black tail and mane.
  7. casual
    not showing effort or strain
    When Mad finally finishes galloping
    all over the nearby fields and streets,
    she reins the sweaty horse to a halt
    and hops down casually so that I
    can climb up
    awkwardly.
  8. endure
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    The horse endures
    my nervous efforts.
  9. canter
    a smooth three-beat gait
    first at a bumpy trot,
    then a rolling canter,
    and eventually,
    a rapid gallop
    that makes all my
    daydreams
    feel
    real!
  10. unaccustomed
    not habituated to; unfamiliar with
    Unaccustomed to parties, I sit alone
    on the quiet porch
  11. dire
    fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
    Some of the sights
    that Mami describes
    as dire poverty
    look like such
    luxurious wealth
    to a city girl
    who loves
    farms.
  12. plantation
    an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale
    As we pass sugarcane fields
    and banana plantations,
    everything turns emerald green,
    as if we’re headed toward Oz.
  13. hue
    the quality of a color determined by its dominant wavelength
    Palm trees and bell towers rise
    above rows of houses, each wall
    painted its own shade of fruit hue.
    Guava pink. Lime green.
    Pineapple yellow.
  14. wrought
    shaped to fit by altering the contours of a pliable mass
    In this centuries-old house,
    each floor-to-ceiling window
    is truly an opening—no glass,
    just twisted wrought iron bars
    that let the sea breeze flow in
    like a friendly spirit.
  15. intriguing
    capable of arousing interest or curiosity
    The central patio has fruit trees
    and flowers to study, and the walls
    display intriguing old black-and-white
    photos of ancestors, wide-eyed pictures
  16. corral
    a pen for cattle
    Dawn on the farm means rising
    before the sun to rush outdoors
    into a corral where men and older boys
    milk the cows, while cats prowl,
    waiting for their chance to sip
    spilled droplets.
  17. blunt
    not sharp (used of a knife or other blade)
    Older cousins show me
    how to shake the mule’s quijada,
    to make the blunt teeth
    rattle.
  18. gourd
    container made from the dried shell of a large, round fruit
    Guitars.
    Drums.
    Gourds.
    Sticks.
    A cow bell.
    A washboard.
    Pretty soon, we have
    a whole orchestra.
  19. foal
    a young horse
    But the mare is pregnant,
    and my great-uncle promises
    that next summer, I can help
    train the foal, which,
    according to Tío Darío
    will be
    half mine!
  20. filly
    a young female horse under the age of four
    I’ll be expected to share with my sister,
    but in just a few short months,
    each of us will be half owner
    of a colt
    or a filly.
  21. thicket
    a dense growth of bushes
    Today all the cousins are riding
    out to a thicket of wild mamoncillo trees,
    where even the girls will be allowed to climb
    up tall trunks to pick fruit, and bring back
    enough for the grown-ups.
  22. perplexed
    full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
    The horse stops, turns, and gazes at me,
    perplexed, his dark eyes asking why
    I was foolish enough to mount him
    with just a blanket, instead of a tightly
    cinched saddle, and the sturdy
    reassurance of stirrups.
  23. cinch
    pull, fasten, or tie something tightly
    The horse stops, turns, and gazes at me,
    perplexed, his dark eyes asking why
    I was foolish enough to mount him
    with just a blanket, instead of a tightly
    cinched saddle, and the sturdy
    reassurance of stirrups.
  24. exhilarate
    fill with sublime emotion
    It doesn’t matter, because
    with exhilarated breath
    and a drumming heart,
    I feel as if I’ve galloped
    so far beyond anything
    I’ve ever known before
    that I’m already grown-up
    and independent.
  25. stalactite
    a cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from a cave roof
    Now I’m leaving with secret bullets,
    and a gleaming, pale yellow stalactite
    that Mami brought from a cave
    where Cuban Indians
    hid from Spanish invaders.
Created on Tue Jun 15 12:04:16 EDT 2021 (updated Wed Jun 16 15:41:03 EDT 2021)

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