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October 08, 2002
Never mind the poetry
Bookmarked this ages ago, and I'm not certain why. Probably saw it at wood s lot. In fact, checking blogdex sources for the link, that's the only entry. From December 23rd. This is probably deep and significant, or can easily be made to look convincingly so.
I Give You Back, --from She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo, 1983
I release you, my beautiful and terrible
fear. I release you. You were my beloved
and hated twin, but now, I don't know you
as myself. I release you with all the
pain I would know at the death of
my daughters.
You are not my blood anymore.
I give you back to the white soldiers
who burned down my home, beheaded my children,
raped and sodomized my brothers and sisters.
I give you back to those who stole the
food from our plates when we were starving.
I release you, fear, because you hold
these scenes in front of me and I was born
with eyes that can never close.
About the Author:
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and an enrolled member of the Muskogee Tribe, Joy Harjo came to New Mexico to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts where she studied painting and theatre, not music and poetry, though she did write a few lyrics for an Indian acid rock band. Joy attended the University of New Mexico where she received her B.A. in 1976, followes by an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. She has also taken part in a non-degree program in Filmmaking from the Anthropology Film Center.
The world needs more Indian acid rock bands.
Many of her poems are available online, from the previous link. Can't guarantee everything will work; had to pull an interview from the Archive, so try not to be too shocked at the odd 404.
Nine years ago, Native American poet Joy Harjo made a bold prediction."I've been studying the saxophone for four years," she said during a reading taped for the Lannan Literary Videos series. "And someday I'm going to have a band."
And the day came when she realized that prophecy. In 1997, Joy Harjo and Poetic Justice released the group's first CD, "Letters From the End of the Twentieth Century", a combination of rock, jazz, reggae, tribal and Latin music. It features the celebrated Muskogee poet, Harjo, 47, singing and chanting her work and playing the alto saxophone.
[. . .] "I believe in the power of words to create the world, she says. I have a poem that will turn hatred into love. And one to release me from fear. And then she speaks the words:
"Fear, you have choked me, but I gave you the leash.
You have gutted me but I gave you the knife.
You have devoured me but I laid myself across the fire.
I take myself back, Fear . . .""Words are doors. Or openings to meanings, she explains. Our world springs from them. It takes an idea to start a war or create an organization.
There's more/updated information at JoyHarjo.com, including lyrics and sound clips from the cd Letter From The End of the Twentieth Century.
Just plugged her name into Google News, figuring that if I'm thinking about her, she must have. . . no, that's crazy talk. Only two results, a reading from her new book last month at San Jose State University, and an announcement of the book from Okmulgee Daily Times:
The internationally acclaimed Muscogee poetess, Joy Harjo, will be discussing her newest book of poetry, "How We Became Human New and Selected Poems: 1975 - 2001" at the Creek Council House Museum on Saturday, September 14 at 3:00 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Creek Indian Memorial Association and is open free to the public.Over the past twenty-five years, Joy Harjo has emerged as the powerful international spokeswoman in verse for America's indigenous peoples. Across seven collections, in poems of breathtaking beauty and staggering social conscience, she has raised our awareness of the historic plight and everyday reality of Native Americans. Fearless and defiant, her voice has brought grace and relevance to the lives of America's many silenced identities, scores of individuals marginalized for their race, ethnicity, sexuality, or class. HOW WE BECAME HUMAN (W. W. Norton & Company: July 29, 2002; $26.95 cloth) gathers a quarter-century of this celebrated humanitarian and brilliant poet's work, offering an epic look at American spirituality, from ancient myths of creation to snapshots of contemporary life.
If you're interested in that sort of thing.
Update: Or, if you're more in a novel sort of mood, Dru is (re)reading Ellison's Invisible Man. Might have been 10 years since the last time I (re)read it, and the book had somehow become much more textured than it was the first time I'd read it. Odd how that happens. . .
Posted by Aaron at October 8, 2002 10:15 PM
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