Joy Harjo is a major American poet who was chosen as poet laureate of the United States. She’s the first Native American to hold that position. Harjo has taught at universities around the United States and has released albums of her music. She’s also the author of children’s books.
‘All the Tired Horses in the Sun’ by Joy Harjo is a short but deeply somber poem that seeks to express an all too potent existential exhaustion felt by indigenous communities.
And ever.
Vending machines and pop.
Chips, candy, and not enough clean water.
And ever, ever, ever.
‘Invisible Fish’ by Joy Harjo is a beautiful poem that illustrates time’s oppressive persistence on both the natural world and humankind.
Invisible fish swim this ghost ocean now described by waves of sand, by water-worn rock. Soon the fish will learn to walk.
‘Memory Sack’ by Joy Harjo is a poignant poem that reveals human memory as a uniting characteristic of our existence.
That first cry opens the earth door.
We join the ancestor road
With our pack of memories
Slung slack on our backs
‘She Had Some Horses’ by Joy Harjo illustrates the plurality of differences among people.
She had some horses.
She had horses who were bodies of sand.
She had horses who were maps drawn of blood.
She had horses who were skins of ocean water.
‘This Morning I Pray for My Enemies’ by Joy Harjo is a powerful poem that reveals the razor-thin line that separates who we consider a friend or enemy.
And whom do I call my enemy?
An enemy must be worthy of engagement.
I turn in the direction of the sun and keep walking.
It’s the heart that asks the question, not my furious mind.
‘Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit’ by Joy Harjo is a heavily symbolic poem that personifies nature as a mesmerizing storyteller.
Don’t bother the earth spirit who lives here. She is working on a story. It is the oldest story in the world and it is delicate, changing.
‘Without’ by Joy Harjo is a moving poem that explores everything from death to the dualities of human nature.
The world will keep trudging through time without us
When we lift from the story contest to fly home
We will be as falling stars to those watching from the edge
Have you ever wondered how graciously an eagle floats in the sky by making circular movements? In ‘Eagle Poem,’ Joy Harjo depicts how it is similar to the cycle of life.
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
‘An American Sunrise’ by Joy Harjo is a powerful poem about Native American culture written by the current Poet Laureate of the United States. The poem explores the struggles of the poet’s community as well as the successes and celebrations.
We were running out of breath, as we ran out to meet ourselves. We
Were surfacing the edge of our ancestors’ fights, and ready to Strike.
It was difficult to lose days in the Indian bar if you were Straight.
Harjo’s ‘My House is the Red Earth’ celebrates personal “centres of the world,” emphasizes the significance of places adored by individuals.
My house is the red earth; it could be the center of the world. I’ve heard New York, Paris, or Tokyo called the center of the world, but I say it is magnificently humble.
Harjo’s ‘Once the World Was Perfect’ narrates a journey from harmony to discord through human vices, and back to light by kindness.
Once the world was perfect, and we were happy in that world.
Then we took it for granted.
Discontent began a small rumble in the earthly mind.
Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head.
Harjo’s ‘Perhaps the World Ends Here’ reflects on life’s cycles around the kitchen table, embodying birth, love, conflict, and death.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
‘Remember’ by Joy Harjo is a thoughtful poem about human connection and the earth. The poet emphasizes how important it is to remember one’s history and relation to all living things.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.
‘Speaking Tree’ delves into the kinship between humans and trees, revealing mutual yearnings for understanding and connection.
Some things on this earth are unspeakable:
Genealogy of the broken—
A shy wind threading leaves after a massacre,
Or the smell of coffee and no one there—
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