Remember.

[Guest guest]

Remember the sky that you were born under,

know each of the star's stories.

Remember the moon, know who she is.

Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the

strongest point in time. Remember sundown

and the giving away to night.

Remember your birth, how your mother struggled

to give you form and breath. You are evidence of

her life, and her mother's and hers.

Remember your father. He is your life, also.

Remember the earth whose skin your are:

red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth

brown earth, we are earth.

Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their

tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,

listen to them. They are alive poems.

Remember the wind. Remember her voice.

She knows the origin of the universe.

Remember that you are people

and that all people are you.

Remember that you are this universe

and that this universe is you.

Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.

Remember that language comes from this.

Remember the dance that language is. that life is.

Remember.

 

 

Joy Harjo.

Poet and editor, Muskogee Nation, New Mexico.