Summary

“Don’t Go Anywhere” begins with Kate reflecting on Grandmother’s teachings about traveling to “space” (202). She explains to Kate that she need not seek out other worlds, but she should stay where she is.

The chapter then reflects on a snake Kate had regularly noticed in her hut in the Amazon. Though it was harmless, she was still afraid of it. She considered why humans feared serpents. She pointed to religion as a primary reason. Still, she thinks how women, like Cleopatra, befriended serpents. She also considers how Black people are, in some ways, like snakes in the way they have been viewed by others for years.

In “One Day, Standing in Her Garden,” Kate receives a surprise visit to her home from...