For many, Thanksgiving is a time of remembrance, and gratitude springs from this remembrance. Here is an excerpt of Joy Harjo’s poem, Remember.
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.
Joy Harjo
The full poem can be found here.
And now I’m reading W.S. Merwin (whom I met many years ago when I invited him to the Getty) as Thanksgiving approaches. Dark times, still thankful.
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
thank you we are saying and waving
dark though it is
W.S. Merwin
The full poem can be found here.
Happy Thanksgiving!