Summary

In “How the Milky Way Was Made,” Diaz explains that once the Colorado River flowed freely, undisturbed, straight to Mexico. Now, there are 15 dams that interrupt its movement. To save the fish from the river, she says, the Mojave have placed them in the sky, where they are surrounded by stars. A coyote who once tried to jump across the river is there as well. It dreams of eating salmon, much like Diaz dreams of her lover's body.

In “exhibits from The American Water Museum,” Diaz imagines a museum commemorating water and what the exhibits might be like. They are described in numbered sections in a random order. In Exhibit 17, a recorded voice that may be the wind tells the visitor, “I am you / or you are me. / ...we will only ever be / as much as we are willing to save of one...