{"id":1960,"date":"2016-09-02T00:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T04:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:38","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:38","slug":"sept-2-joy-harjo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2016\/09\/02\/sept-2-joy-harjo\/","title":{"rendered":"Sept 2 – Joy Harjo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, September 2 \u00a0—
\n<\/strong>\u201cTalking with the Sun\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Days of early autumn sun, crisp air. \u00a0You can see by the way people walk around campus that we are breathing better these days. \u00a0Lots of smiles for this respite from a mean hot damp stretch. \u00a0This morning, I was listening for a voice I had not heard recently, one of the poets who offers me the grace of slowing down to notice the shape of my life. \u00a0I found Joy Harjo, soul friend and strong poet. \u00a0Last January, she sent me a new book, fresh for new listening, \u00a0Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings<\/u>. \u00a0 I found my first poem there, \u201cTalking with the Sun.\u201d \u00a0How does a grandmother carry her fourth granddaughter out into the sun on a rainy (New York) Times Square morning?<\/p>\n

Have a blest weekend,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019 Post<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0Joy Harjo \u00a0\u201cTalking with the Sun\u201d<\/p>\n

I believe in the sun.
\nIn the tangle of human failures of fear, greed, and
\nforgetfulness, the sun gives me clarity.
\nWhen explorers first encountered my people, they called us
\nheathens, sun worshippers.
\nThey didn\u2019t understand that the sun is a relative, and
\nilluminates our path on this earth.<\/p>\n

After dancing all night in a circle we realize that we are a
\npart of a larger sense of stars and planets dancing with us
\noverhead.
\nWhen the sun rises at the apex of the ceremony, we are
\nrenewed.
\nThere is no mistaking this connection, though Walmart
\nmight be just down the road.
\nHumans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the
\nearth and sun; we exist together in a sacred field of
\nmeaning.<\/p>\n

Our earth is shifting. \u00a0We can all see it.
\nI hear from my Inuit and Yupik relatives up north that
\neverything has changed. \u00a0It\u2019s so hot; there is not enough
\nwinter.
\nAnimals are confused. Ice is melting.<\/p>\n

The quantum physicists have it right; they are beginning to
\nthink like Indians: everything is connected dynamically
\nat an intimate level.
\nWhen you remember this, then the current wobble of the
\nearth makes sense. \u00a0How much more oil can be drained,
\nWithout replacement; without reciprocity?<\/p>\n

I walked out of a hotel room just off Times Square at dawn
\nto find the sun.
\nIt was the fourth morning since the birth of my fourth
\ngranddaughter.
\nThis was the morning I was to present her to the sun, as a
\nrelative, as one of us. \u00a0It was still dark, overcast as I walked
\nthrough Times Square.
\nI stood beneath a twenty-first century totem pole of symbols
\nof multinational corporations, made of flash and neon.<\/p>\n

The sun rose up over the city but I couldn\u2019t see it amidst the
\nrain.
\nThough I was not at home, bundling up the baby to carry
\nher outside,
\nI carried this newborn girl within the cradleboard of my
\nheart.
\nI held her up and presented her to the sun, so she would be
\nrecognized as a relative,
\nSo that she won\u2019t forget this connection, this promise,
\nSo that we all remember, the sacredness of life.<\/p>\n

Joy Harjo<\/p>\n

\"Joy-Harjo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joy Harjo 2012.
\n(b. May 9, 1951)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, September 2 \u00a0— \u201cTalking with the Sun\u201d Days of early autumn sun, crisp air. \u00a0You can see by the way people walk around campus that we are breathing better these days. \u00a0Lots of smiles for this respite from a … 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\/1960"}],"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=1960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1961,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960\/revisions\/1961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}