#joyharjo

[americasgreatoutdoors]

"Rivers are the old roads, as are songs, to traverse memory." - Joy Harjo

Sunrise light warms the Painted Wall at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park near Montrose, Colorado. 

Photo by Ryan McGinely (www.sharetheexperience.org)

[shawnparell]

Talking with the Sun

I believe in the sun. In the tangle of human failures of fear, greed, and forgetfulness, the sun gives me clarity. When explorers first encountered my people, they called us heathens, sun worshippers. They didn’t understand that the sun is a relative, and illuminates our path on this earth.

After dancing all night in a circle we realize that we are a part of a larger sense of stars and planets dancing with us overhead. When the sun rises at the apex of the ceremony, we are renewed. There is no mistaking this connection, though Walmart might be just down the road. Humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning.

Our earth is shifting.  We can all see it. I hear from my Inuit and Yupik relatives up north that everything has changed.  It’s so hot; there is not enough winter. Animals are confused. Ice is melting.

The quantum physicists have it right; they are beginning to think like Indians: everything is connected dynamically at an intimate level. When you remember this, then the current wobble of the earth makes sense.  How much more oil can be drained, Without replacement; without reciprocity?

I walked out of a hotel room just off Times Square at dawn to find the sun. It was the fourth morning since the birth of my fourth granddaughter. This was the morning I was to present her to the sun, as a relative, as one of us.  It was still dark, overcast as I walked through Times Square. I stood beneath a twenty-first century totem pole of symbols of multinational corporations, made of flash and neon.

The sun rose up over the city but I couldn’t see it amidst the rain. Though I was not at home, bundling up the baby to carry her outside, I carried this newborn girl within the cradleboard of my heart. I held her up and presented her to the sun, so she would be recognized as a relative, So that she won’t forget this connection, this promise, So that we all remember, the sacredness of life.

Joy Harjo

[ahylen]

#writing #creativity #womensupportingwomen #andreahylen #consciouslywoman #evolutionarywomen #awomansvoice #yourvoicematters #books #speakup #writingtoheal #writingtodiscover #empoweredwomen #joyharjo #healmyvoice

[weshoyot]

#regram from @tamponinateacup. She borrowed one of the panels I did for my comic adaptation of @joyharjo #deerdancer and got it tattooed. They did a lovely rendition of the linework! Thanks much! #weshoyot #tattoo #deerdancer #joyharjo #comic #ink

[shawnparell]

Perhaps the World Ends Here

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live. The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on. We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it. It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women. At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers. Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table. This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun. Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory. We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here. At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks. Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

[sweetsweetonion]

'praise the rain praise life praise that it even happened at all ' joy harjo

[talknetworkradio]

Joy Harjo - U.S. Poet Laureate | Episode #442

Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess. Join me in celebrating National Poetry Month! Listen and be inspired as Dr. Gloria shares the poetry of three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. You'll want to listen to this podcast again and again! https://www.talknetworkradio.com/hosts/legacyliving

[talknetworkradio]

Celebrating Joy Harjo | Episode #390

Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess. Celebrating National Poetry Month! Listen and be inspired as Dr. Gloria shares the poetry of recent US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. You'll want to listen to this podcast again and again! https://www.talknetworkradio.com/hosts/legacyliving