Poetry 2

Poetry

Open Ended

Write one word that you associate with the word "SUN"

Open Ended

Write one word that you associate with the word "heart"

Write what you see in the picture

Look for details.

How does this image make you feel? What in the image made you feel that way?

This Morning I Pray for My Enemies by Joy Harjo

And whom do I call my enemy?

An enemy must be worthy of engagement.

I turn in the direction of the sun and keep walking.

It’s the heart that asks the question, not my furious mind.

The heart is the smaller cousin of the sun.

It sees and knows everything.

It hears the gnashing even as it hears the blessing.

The door to the mind should only open from the heart.

An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.

Write down the words and phrases that jump out at you.

Open Ended

What does“The heart is the smaller cousin of the sun” might mean? Why do you think this, based on what you know about the heart and the sun?

Open Ended

What do you think it takes to turn an enemy into a friend? What do you think Joy Harjo is saying about this in the poem?

Remember

by Joy Harjo

Open Ended

What do you see in the colors and brushstrokes of the painting?

Where do your eyes go first? Second?

How does the painting make you feel?

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 of 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 you 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 this universe.

Remember you are all people and all people

are you.

Remember you are this universe and this

universe is you.

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

Remember language comes from this.

Remember the dance language is, that life is.

Remember.

Open Ended

How does Joy Harjo feel about the connectedness of all things. How is this related to who Harjo is, as a Native American?