Friday, June 21, 2019

Poetry Friday: Celebrating our Newest US Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo

 Linda at A Word Edgewise is hosting
this week's round-up of poetic goodness.

I've been absent from this group for a few weeks, but I had to show up today to celebrate our newest US Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Creek Nation and our first Native American poet laureate. As a fellow Oklahoman, I feel a connection to her since I have roots in Oklahoma too. 

"In an interview with Laura Coltelli in Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak, Harjo shared the creative process behind her poetry: 'I begin with the seed of an emotion, a place, and then move from there… I no longer see the poem as an ending point, perhaps more the end of a journey, an often long journey that can begin years earlier, say with the blur of the memory of the sun on someone’s cheek, a certain smell, an ache, and will culminate years later in a poem, sifted through a point, a lake in my heart through which language must come.'" I love the idea that a poem can be the end of a long journey that may have begun years earlier.

"Perhaps the World Ends Here," one of several favorites by Joy Harjo, speaks of the importance of the kitchen table:
"At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We 
       pray of suffering and remorse. We give 
       thanks."
It makes me think of the hours I've spent around a kitchen table. You can explore more poems by Joy Harjo here. I look forward to her time as our US Poet Laureate and seeing what she will do as she serves in this position.

7 comments:

  1. That quote by Harjo about the journey....wow! I've copied that one to my journal. That is something to think about to lead to writing. I love it. Thank you!

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  2. Thanks for that link to Perhaps the World Ends Here. I'm so thankful to everyone who is sharing Harjo's poetry this week. What and amazing woman.

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  3. Thank you for the quote and for adding to the celebration of Joy Harjo! I LOVE that kitchen table poem! I'm at ours right now!!

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  4. Ramona, I thank you, also, for showcasing Harjo's quote on poetry. It is an amazing find that I will add to my presentation for the graduate students I will be teaching at a summer institute.

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  5. I love, love, love "Perhaps the World Ends Here." I don't know that much about Joy Harjo so am looking forward to becoming more familiar with her work.

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  6. Yay for Joy Harjo! I'm loving all the posts introducing us to her work!

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  7. I love her poem around the kitchen table–it can touch everyone, thanks!

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