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Song Quote by Joy Harjo

““This morning when I looked out the roof window before dawn and a few stars were still caught in the fragile weft of ebony night I was overwhelmed. I sang the song Louis taught me: a song to call the deer in Creek, when hunting, and I am certainly hunting something as magic as deer in this city far from the hammock of my mother’s belly. It works, of course, and deer came into this room and wondered at finding themselves in a house near downtown Denver. Now the deer and I are trying to figure out a song to get them back, to get all of us back, because if it works I’m going with them. And it’s too early to call Louis and nearly too late to go home. [from poem, "Song for the Deer and Myself to Return On"]””

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Song Too early Too late

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If we cry more tears we will ruin the land with salt; instead let's praise that which would distract us with despair. Make a…

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“I know I walk in and out of several worlds each day.”

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In Isleta the rainbow was a crack in the universe. We saw the barest of all life that is possible. Bright horses rolled over…

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A story matrix connects all of us. There are rules, processes, and circles of responsibility in this world. And the story begins exactly where…

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“Be respectful of the small insects, birds and animal people who accompany you. Ask their forgiveness for the harm we humans have brought down…

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I can hear the sizzle of newborn stars, and know anything of meaning, of the fierce magic emerging here. I am witness to flexible…

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“It's possible to understand the world from studying a leaf. You can comprehend the laws of aerodynamics, mathematics, poetry and biology through the complex…

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Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their families, their histories too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems.

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There is no separation. We are all from the same place. As long as there is respect and acknowledgement of connections, things continue working.…

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“I release you, my beautiful and terrible fear. I release you. You were my beloved and hate twin, but now, I don't know you…

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Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

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Explore all 46 Joy Harjo quotes

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As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls and old gay men together - there's a safety. They make a shield from all of the bad things they've experienced in the world. They make a home together. There are no songs about that. I…

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Each time, I hear your lovely song, It makes me smile. Every time, I hear you scream, It breaks my heart. Any time, I hear you crying, My Soul, Weeps. When you smile, I soar. When you laugh, I fly. When you giggle, I whimper. When I see your face, I mistakenly, Think I am witness, To the most beautiful,…

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Jacques Roumain

I think a lot of our songs are good.

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