Dr. Hall, in her poem titled, Meditation 39, asks the question, “How many dreams die little deaths wanting words?” In Meditations and Meditations, Hall’s poetry reveals her own recollections of life, love, and identity surrounded by two worlds, the Christian world and that of the Native Life, all while encircled by the beautiful Sandia Mountains of New Mexico. She details a life of culture and family, especially the traditional ways of her grandmother, and of love so deeply woven just as intricately within the dreamcatcher and as delicate as the good dreams passed on to the dreamer. Her meditations are skillfully woven through her words of poetry as she recalls her grandmother’s ways and the lessons that were passed down to her. In The Storyteller, Hall speaks of her grandmother’s love and indigenous travels, the importance of the dreamcatcher, brother bear’s protections and sister’s spider’s perfect dreams while enveloped in her grandmother’s arms. Hall’s words have a deep purpose in identity as she questions the reader about what is believed in to be true when she asks, do you stand for what you believe in or just say what you believe?

Malia A. Perez, Ed. D.