March 21, 2008

• Remember

   

  Remember
  the sky that you were born under,

  know
  each of the star’s stories.

  Remember
  the moon, know who she is. I met her

  in a
  bar once in Iowa City.

  Remember
  the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the

  strongest
  point of time. Remember sundown

  and
  the giving away to night.

  Remember
  your birth, how your mother struggled

  to
  give you form and breath. You are evidence of

  her
  life, and her mother’s, and hers.

  Remember
  your father. He is your life, also.

  Remember
  the earth whose skin you are:

  red
  earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth,

  brown
  earth, we are earth.

  Remember
  the plants, trees, animal life who all have their

  tribes,
  their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,

  listen
  to them. They are alive poems.

  Remember
  the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the

  origin
  of this universe. I heard her singing Kiowa war

  dance
  songs at the corner of Fourth and Central once.

  Remember
  that you are all people and that all people

  are
  you. Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is
  you.

  Remember
  that all is in motion, is growing, is you.

  Remember
  that language comes from this.

  Remember
  the dance that language is, that life is.

  Remember.

  joy harjo
  

  • 2:06 pm
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