There will always be obstacles preventing stories from being told. Although language

is the mode for communication, it is nowhere close to being perfect. In “Written in Blood,” Tiffany Midge analyzes the barriers, traps, and betrayals of the “language of the enemy.” The lack of audience can also be discouraging, as seen in Maurice Kenny’s “Reading Poems in Public.” The audience may not understand or may even be antipathetic towards stories, such Thomas Builds-the-Fire’s dilemma in Sherman Alexie’s “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” These complications show that stories are needed more than ever in order to forge the path of understanding.

         Storytelling requires courage and risk-taking, but it is worth it, as seen by Thomas Builds-the-Fire trying to fly. It is important to keep telling the stories—the truths the world needs but is too afraid to say. Sometimes, that means being like the speaker in “Reading Poems in Public,” standing on a stage to “read poems, / and read poems, and read . . .” Do not be discouraged. Thomas Builds-the-Fire states that stories “are all I have. It’s all I can do.” It is enough.