A Poem for Our Times

Poems are mini force-fields, the concentrated energy of words refined to their very essence. Joy Harjo, the first Native American poet laureate of America, has a special feeling for mother nature & the threads that connect us. This poem is a reminder of the beauty & mystery of life, a balm to return to over & over.


Eagle Poem
by Joy Harjo

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can't see, can't hear,
Can't know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren't always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

Other books of poems to keep beside the bed...
- To Bless the Space Between Us, John O'Donohue
- An American Sunrise, Joy Harjo
- Devotions, Mary Oliver