Me (Moth): "Text I Send Sani"–"Motel Guitar Lessons"

by Amber McBride
In this novel in verse, two teens take a road trip in order to learn about their pasts and find ways to move forward.

This list covers "Text I Send Sani"–"Motel Guitar Lessons."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
30 words 49 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. innards
    the organs in a body, collectively
    A butterfly & a moth both birth the same—
    melt their innards & reassemble.
  2. funk
    an earthy type of jazz combining it with blues and soul
    I make a playlist of chill & funk,
    bake brownies & set out chips
  3. nuzzle
    gently rub or push one's nose or face against something
    I nuzzle into his neck that smells
    of witch hazel bark.
  4. wormwood
    any of several aromatic herbs
    Wormwood: to protect the car, keep it in the palm
    of the ancestors’ hands.
  5. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    Everything must go
    except for the dull party food
    the ancestors ate from,
    which gets buried deep in the ground
    with a few coins under a tree
    in the woods behind the house.
    (My subtle way of begging for a miracle.)
  6. salvation
    the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil
    Sani is outside in his Wrangler with a full tank,
    looking like salvation & sin
  7. expanse
    a wide and open space or area, as of land, sea, or sky
    I decide the beat-up Jeep is a caterpillar, because that makes
    the expanse of road in front of us
    less death trap, more journey.
  8. iota
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    Every iota of greenery & pavement we cross
    used to be Native land.
  9. essence
    the choicest or most vital part of some idea or experience
    So I focus on inhaling the essence
    of pancakes.
  10. quarters
    housing available for people to live in
    I lead Sani to the back, where the slave quarters
    are left in shambles.
  11. shambles
    a condition of great disorder
    I lead Sani to the back, where the slave quarters
    are left in shambles.
  12. plaque
    a tablet that commemorates a person or achievement
    A plaque indicates the location;
    the names of the 135 people are missing.
  13. molt
    cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers
    I hope I do not disturb the dead
    with my molting.
  14. spare
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    On the ride away
    from the place that preserves sin
    in spare closets,
    I offer Sani the story of the wealthy man,
    Bluebeard, who kept murdering his wives
    because they broke one rule.
  15. rotunda
    a building having a circular plan and a dome
    Dusty slave quarters with earth for floors
    beside rotundas & white pillars.
  16. beckon
    summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
    Stars, fireflies in the sky, flicker on
    & the moon
    is a hooked fingernail
    beckoning us away.
  17. hearth
    a built-in space in a wall where a fire can be built
    Between them was a fire hearth
    (the North Star)
    that kept them warm.
  18. fringe
    an ornamental border of short lengths of hanging threads
    1. One bed
    2. Mildew & musk & mothballs
    3. Twenty bucks
    4. Mattress springs that poke
    5. Lamp with red fringe
  19. constrict
    squeeze or push together
    Night orbits a house.
    It haunts, constricts
    until its weight slithers through cracks
    & finds an innocent to smother.
  20. hoist
    raise
    On Sundays, Mama walks to the wooden church—
    lets the Holy Ghost hoist her high, throw her down
    & play her like a drum.
  21. vengeful
    disposed to take action in return for a perceived wrong
    Night is vengeful & brisk—a glass chandelier
    in a Southern mansion, beautiful, afraid of heights
    but hoisted high.
  22. mahogany
    a shade of brown with a tinge of red
    You know, the whip forgets blood,
    cotton doesn’t recall mahogany hands
    & with all this forgetting, nothing stays.
  23. shackle
    restrain with or as if with fetters
    Your shackled hymn, too much glass tearing through skin,
    a sound I’ve been told to put out.
  24. disperse
    move away from each other
    After the Hoodoo man cleanses the plantation, Night leaves,
    the ancestors disperse to their favorite rooms.
  25. tendon
    a band of tissue connecting a muscle to its bony attachment
    Our "Summer Song”
    is a red string lacing
    our tendons together.
  26. weary
    physically and mentally fatigued
    I stretch my legs, weary from ten hours in the car.
  27. severe
    extremely plain and simple
    Three years ago,
    Mom sat at the table by the window,
    her hair slick in a severe high bun.
  28. lofty
    of imposing height; especially standing out above others
    Look at me, leaving myself places.
    Living so lofty, so dusty—
    taking up so much space.
  29. wrought
    shaped to fit by altering the contours of a pliable mass
    I drop coins by the entrance,
    by the wrought iron gate with pointy tips
    like iron teeth.
  30. fluent
    smooth and unconstrained in movement
    Honey, your hands are fluent
Created on Thu Oct 07 12:48:38 EDT 2021 (updated Wed Oct 13 10:22:28 EDT 2021)

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