{"id":1632,"date":"2015-12-02T00:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T05:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1632"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:05","slug":"dec-2-joy-harjo-and-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/12\/02\/dec-2-joy-harjo-and-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Dec 2 – Joy Harjo and cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, December 2<\/strong> \u00a0– \u00a0“while I was making other plans \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0the wind drew circles around this town”<\/p>\n

Outside my room at 7:34 our parking lots begin to fill, residence hall students wake to late semester deadlines and rub sleep from their eyes. \u00a0Work requires our attention, keeping track of commitments, while all along an entire city breathes in and out, millions of women and men tending the commitments and burdens of their lives. \u00a0Call it morning traffic maybe. \u00a0 All along, all this sleeping and waking, hustling and waiting, opens to a day alive with sheer beauty and the mystery of . \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0of what? \u00a0 Of human depth, longing for stillness. \u00a0 For Christians, \u00a0this season invites Advent contemplation, a pause in the pace of the city\u2019s humanity.<\/p>\n

Joy Harjo\u2019s meditation on Worcester, MA makes a fine read early in this early December day. \u00a0Read it out loud, pause here and there, and she may anoint your day. Have a good mid-week day.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post: \u00a0“<\/strong>Climbing the Streets of\u00a0Worcester, Mass.”<\/p>\n

Houses lean forward with their hands
\non thin hips.
\nI walk past their eyes
\nof pigeon gray, hear someone
\nplaying horn, and there\u2019s the wind
\ntrying to teach some trees
\nto fly.
\nIt could happen.
\nLA is tempted by the ocean.
\nAnd sleeping storms erupt the weakest hearts.
\nI scan the street.\u00a0 Know up one hill.
\ngroans a sacred fire
\nand down the next
\ncould be a crazy trick:
\nthree crows laugh
\nkick up the neighbor\u2019s trash.
\nTelling jokes
\nthey re-create the world.
\nAll night
\nwhile I was making other plans
\nthe wind drew circles around this town;
\nscraped clean the dead skin
\nof its soul
\nbut left three crows, a horn
\nsome trees
\nto talk it back again.<\/p>\n

\"Joy-Harjo\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, December 2 \u00a0– \u00a0“while I was making other plans \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0the wind drew circles around this town” Outside my room at 7:34 our parking lots begin to fill, residence hall students wake to late semester deadlines and rub sleep … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1632"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1635,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions\/1635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}