Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo
Joy Harjois a Mvskoke poet, musician, and author. She is often cited as playing a formidable role in the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln termed the Native American Renaissance of the late 20th century. She is the author of such books as Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, Crazy Brave, and How We Became Humans: New and Selected Poems 1975 - 2002...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth9 May 1951
CountryUnited States of America
act amazes amazing bringing create creative forth music poetry whether
The creative act amazes me. Whether it's poetry, whether it's music, it's an amazing process, and it has something to do with bringing forth the old out into the world to create and to bring forth that which will rejuvenate.
dad knew
I never fit in. Everyone knew my dad was Indian. I was half-Indian.
hear ice north relatives
I hear from my Inuit and Yupik relatives up north that everything has changed. It's so hot; there is not enough winter. Animals are confused. Ice is melting.
became bit border carry love saxophone singing sound sounds
I love the sound of the saxophone. It became my singing voice, and it sounds so human. The saxophone could carry the words past the border of words. It can carry it a little bit farther.
believe failures fear gives human
I believe in the sun. In the tangle of human failures of fear, greed and forgetfulness, the sun gives me clarity.
aspects care cultures developed human indian looked people spiritual taken
I don't like this romanticization of Indian people in which Indian people are looked at as spiritual saviors, as people who have always taken care of the land. We're human beings. But I think different cultures have developed different aspects of humanness.
amazing barren beauty certainly creates desert flattered full needs
I don't see the desert as barren at all; I see it as full and ripe. It doesn't need to be flattered with rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has, and creates amazing beauty.
changing form kept running took
It took me 14 years to write 'Crazy Brave' because I kept changing the form and I also kept running away from the story. I said I don't really want to write about myself. But it's about writing about memory.
each-day world walks
I know I walk in and out of several worlds each day.
believe poetry i-believe
I believe that poets have to be inside their poems somewhere, or the poem won't work.
memories heart brain
I have more questions than answers in this world as do most poets and writers. The field of memory we exist in is absolutely encompassing and is both a question and answer. It is memory that provides the heart with impetus, fuels the brain, and propels the corn plant from seed to fruit.
eye born
I was born with eyes that can never close...
horse sky rainbow
In Isleta the rainbow was a crack in the universe. We saw the barest of all life that is possible. Bright horses rolled over and over the dusking sky.
pain suffering-of-others true-power
True power does not amass through the pain and suffering of others.