How Silt Works
One person's first week
Silt
Day 1 · Signup
This is Silt. Two questions. Take your time.
First: Tell me where you come from culturally. The places that shaped you, the tradition you grew up in, and anything you've taken on as an adult that wasn't given to you.
Second: And what are you carrying right now?
First: Tell me where you come from culturally. The places that shaped you, the tradition you grew up in, and anything you've taken on as an adult that wasn't given to you.
Second: And what are you carrying right now?
Mexico City. Loud buses, jasmine at night, my grandmother's kitchen. Now in Chicago. Catholic on my mother's side — my grandmother kept a shrine. I've been studying Zen for a decade.
My grandmother is sick. Whether to go back.
Listening. Something for you lands in a few minutes.
Day 1 · First arrival
The letter strips away distance until only the voice remains.
I think of you constantly. I carry your image everywhere.
Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera
Day 2 · An image
Hands shaped this 400 years before anyone called it art.
Ceramic vessel · Oaxaca · Met Museum
Day 3 · A poem
The body decides before the mind catches up.
No one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark. Warsan Shire · Home
home is the mouth of a shark. Warsan Shire · Home
This one hit hard
Day 4 — silence
Day 5 · A ritual
Your grandmother kept a shrine. In her tradition, the saints listen when you light a candle. Tonight, light one.
Day 6 · Music
The guitar finds the part of you that Spanish holds and English doesn't.
▶ Chavela Vargas · La Llorona
▶ Chavela Vargas · La Llorona
How did you know about Chavela
She sang for the same country you carry.