Remember
by Joy Harjo

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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 tonight.
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.

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Remember What does remembrance bring up for you? Can you share a personal story of a time you remembered that the universe is you and you are this universe? What helps you remember that 'life is'?

Kristin Pedemonti wrote: Remembrance means to me to acknowledge I am part of something bigger than myself.To honor my ancestors. To honor the earth and the universe of which earth is a larger part. Remembering the universe is...

Jagdish P Dave wrote: Remembrance brings me to the realization that all threads of life are interwoven and interconnected and there is an underlying flow of oneness.Like the author Joy Harjowrites," Remember you are t...

David Doane wrote: I very much like this essay. Joy Harjo exhorts us to remember our oneness with all that is, which we forgot. We are one with the sun and moon and stars, one with all who came before us and will come a...

David Doane wrote: It sounds like that moment was very profound for all of you. Thank you for sharing....

me wrote: Amen....

me too wrote: Last evening, I cared for my mother in law (90 years old) ... my parents (83 and 81 years old). I did a lot of remembering! Interesting ... how, out of all the good and bad over the years, my “r...

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