Nothing is ever forgotten says the god of remembering, who protects the heartbeat of every little cell of knowing from the Antarctic to the soft spot at the top of this planetary baby. As such, Harjo has garnered numerous awards, honors, and fellowships throughout her impressive career, including two NEA Literature Fellowshipsin Creative Writing, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas, the William Carlos Williams Award for Poetry, the Rasmuson U.S. Artists Fellowship, a Native American Music Award for Best Female Artist of the Year, and in 2015, the Wallace Stevens Award. 48 views, 3 likes, 0 loves, 0 comments, 2 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Concho Public Library: Concho Public Library presents A Poem A Day. we must take the utmost care Photo:Library of Congress - https://www.flickr.com/photos/library-of-congress-life/48092158967/in/photostream/. Because who would believe, the fantastic and terrible story of all of our survival. Harjos mother, although she had only an eighth-grade education, loved William Blake and taught herself the arts of poetry and music. Her mother used to write songs and her grandmother played the saxophone. Playing With Song and Poetry. Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the. . Accessed July 9, 2019. https://poets.org/poet/joy-harjo. Her poems sing of beauty and survival, illuminating a spirituality that connects her to her ancestors and thrums with the quiet anger of living in the ruins of injustice. Harjo recalls that the very first poem she wrote was in eighth grade. Toward the ancient encampment of our relatives. Joy shares a story from her childhood and the reason she learned to play the saxophone at age 40. Students will analyze the life of Hon. Here is unbridled potential for the poeticin everything, even in ourselves., These poems taken from half a century of Harjos work show the powerful words and moving themes that have made her an unforgettable voice in the world of poetry.. What you say and how you say iteverything is, Harjo said. That night after eating, singing, and dancing, For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet. Be respectful of the small insects, birds and animal people who accompany you.Ask their forgiveness for the harm we humans have brought down upon them. An American Sunrise Joy Harjo 116 pages, hardcover: $25.95 W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. If you sing it will give your spirit lift to fly to the stars ears and back. Harjo then graduated from college a year later and started the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at the University of Iowa (Iowa Writers Workshop). To one whole voice that is you. That house was built of twenty-four doves, rugs from India, cooking recipes from seven generations of mothers and their sisters, and wave upon wave of tears, and the concrete of resolution for the steps that continue all the way to the heavens, past guardian dogs, dog, after dog to protect. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States. She has found a singing language for grief and meaningfully transforms the American story. At 64 years old, Harjo remains an unstoppable artistic force. AboutPressCopyrightContact. She explores the destruction and disrespect of the native sovereign nations. http://Homewardboundphotos.blogspot.com - This city is made of stone, of blood, and fish. For the past 32 years, a small band of dedicated friends have poured their hearts and love into Friends of Silence. Befriend them, the moon said as a crab skittered under her skirt, her daughter in, the high chair, waiting for cereal and toast. As a musician and performer, Harjo has produced seven award-winning music albums including her newest, I Pray for My Enemies. Speak to it as you would to a beloved child. Be respectful of the small insects, birds and animal people who accompany you. In this lesson, students will consider what life in America was like prior to Roe v. Wade. The journey might take you a few hours, a day, a year, a few years, a hundred, a thousand or even more. [1] Moyers, Bill. Her impact in these realms is proof enough of the power and importance of the artsfor the job of the artist is no extra. This city is made of stone, of blood, and fish.There are Chugatch Mountains to the eastand whale and seal to the west.It hasn't always been this way, because glacierswho are ice ghosts create oceans, carve earthand shape this city here, by the sound.They swim backwards in time. Now that Harjo is the US Poet Laureate, I look forward to upcoming expressive work of hers. This city is made of stone, of blood, and fish. Knoxville, December 27, 2016, for Marilyn Kallets 70th birthday. This city is made of stone, of blood, and fish.There are Chugatch Mountains to the eastand whale and seal to the west.It hasn't always been this way, because glacierswho are ice ghosts create oceans, carve earthand shape this city here, by the sound.They swim backwards in time. How? In 2019, Harjo became the first Native American United States Poet Laureate in history and is only the second poet to be appointed for three terms. For freedom, freedom, oh freedom sang the slaves, the oar rhythm of the blues lifting up the spirits of peoples whose bodies were worn out, or destroyed by a mans slash, hit of greed. After this, Harjos mother married another man that also abused the family. This is our memory too, said America. Yvonne B. Miller, her accomplishments, and leadership attributes, so they can apply persuasive techniques to amplify her accomplishments, leadership attributes, as well as those in leadership roles in their community. Harjo is the author of ten books of poetry, including her most recent, Weaving Sundown in aScarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years (2022), the highly acclaimed An American Sunrise (2019), which was a2020 Oklahoma Book Award Winner, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015), which was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize and named aNotable Book of the Year by the American Library Association, and In Mad Love and War (1990), which received an American Book Award and the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award. Joy Harjo. Much later in life, nearing age 40, she picked up a saxophone for the first time. Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, is amember of the Mvskoke Nation. they ask.And what has taken you so long?That night after eating, singing, and dancingWe lay together under the stars.We know ourselves to be part of mystery.It is unspeakable.It is everlasting.It is for keeps. Another level of love, beyond the neighbors holiday light, display proclaiming goodwill to all men who have lost their way in the dark, as they tried to find the car door, the bottle hidden behind the seat, reason, to keep on going past all the times they failed at sharing love, love. A stunning, powerful collection using a range of forms that examines the forced displacement of Harjo's Mvskoke ancestors from Alabama due to President Andrew Jacksons Indian Removal Act in 1830. She has published seven books of acclaimed poetry. One of her most famous poetry volumes,She Had Some Horses, was first published in 1982. What's life like now in Tulsa? Storytelling from Joy Harjos poetry. Everyone laughed at the impossibility of it, but also the truth. She is Executive Editor of the 2020 anthology When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came ThroughANorton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry and the editor of Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, the companion anthology to her signature Poet Laureate project featuring asampling of work by 47 Native Nations poets through an interactive ArcGIS Story Map and anewly developed Library of Congress audiocollection. Then, you must do this: help the next person find their way through the dark. A healer. Art literally runs in Harjos blood. In this bonus lesson, Joy takes us on a journey with her musical partner Larry Mitchell to turn a poem into a song. Songs for planting, for growing, for harvesting. The monthly newsletter of contemplative quotes remains free and is made possible by your generosity and support. Tonight, she just wanted a good sleep, and picked up the book of poetry by her bed, which was over a journal she kept when her mother was dying. Date accessed. In 1980, Harjo published her first full-length volume of poetry calledWhat Moon Drove Me to This? Then a train of words, phrases, garnered by music and the need for rhythm to organize chaos. They like sweets, cookies, and flowers. In her words, the NEA acts as the cultural barometer of the country, because when the arts thrive, the nation does too. Hardcover, 169 pages. Harjo is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and is a founding board member of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. There was no late, only a plate of tamales on the counter waiting to be, or not to be. Her spiritual grandfather Monawee has been able to travel beyond the boundaries of time and visit members of his tribe and blessing them with good tidings. Within intense misfortunes and cruel injustices, the seeds of blessings grow. Lesson time 17:19 min. Once a storm of boiling earth cracked openthe streets, threw open the town.It's quiet now, but underneath the concreteis the cooking earth, and above that, airwhich is another ocean, where spirits we can't seeare dancing joking getting fullon roasted caribou, and the prayinggoes on, extends out. She has always been a visionary. That you can't see, can't hear; Falling apart after falling in love songs. Keep room for those who have no place else to go. Harjo jokes that if she had put a dreamcatcher on the cover of her albums, she would have sold thousands of them. We light candles, fires to make the way for a newborn child, for fresh understanding. Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control. Phone: 304-870-4574, Everything has presence and meaning within this landscape of timelessness. Shed seen it all. To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon It was an amazing experience! Remember the dance language is, that life is. These helpers take many forms: animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor. We will be reading poetry from the US Poet Laureate Joy Harjos book, An American Sunrise. We invite people to pre-read the book if you can and we will be reading select poems from the book and discussing as a group. Sunrise occurs everywhere, in lizard time, human time, or a fern uncurling time. Joy Harjo. National Womens History Museum. Before she could speak, she had music. This poem was constructed to carry any memory you want to hold close. In facing the past and her own insecurities, however, Harjo learned to turn her enemies into her helpers. She switched her major to art, and then again to creative writing after meeting and working with fellow Native American poets, including Simon J. Ortiz and Leslie Marmon Silko. Now an award-winning writer and musician, Harjo hardly recalls a time in her life when she wasnt surrounded by art. Art carries the spirit of the people. A n American Sunrise, Joy Harjo's first book since she was named poet laureate of the United States . After this, Harjos mother married another man that also abused the family. Talk to them,listen to them. Harjo is selected as the new US poet laureate in 2019 and the first Native American to hold this place. Photo credit: Shawn Miller Keep up with our literary programmingno matter where you live. Joy Harjo - 1951-. This is the story our mothers tell but we couldnt hear it in our ears stuffed with Barbie advertising, with our mothers own loathing set in place by patriarchal scripture, the smothering rules to stop insurrection by domesticated slaves, or wives. Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head. Gather them together. Take a breath offered by friendly winds. by Joy Harjo. Acknowledge this earth who has cared for you since you were a dream planting itself precisely within your parents desire. June 21, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734665274/meet-joy-harjo-the-first-native-american-u-s-poet-laureate. Her mother wrote songs and her grandmother and her aunt were both artists. 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 thestrongest point of time. As she grew older, words excited Harjo even more. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. This timeless poem paired with magnificent paintings makes for a picture book that is a true celebration of life and our human role within it. People dont want to hear about Native Americans unless theyre feather-clad and dancing, she said. They place them in a, part of the body that will hold them: liver, heart, knee, or brain. Time moves in a spiral and the generations are not finished speaking. Her aunt Lois Harjo also loved to paint, and both Naomi and Lois received their BFA degrees in the art form. The journey might take you a few hours, a day, a year, a few years, a hundred, a thousand or even more. In the early 1800s, the Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their original lands east of the Mississippi to Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma. I always had an awareness from the time I was very, very young that I was carrying something that I was to take care of, she said. It sees and knows everything. Make a giveaway, and remember, keep the speeches short. She performs nationally and internationally solo and with her band, The Arrow Dynamics. Remember, closes the text, and children will., "A contemplative, visually dazzling masterpiece that will resonate even more deeply each time it is read.. When she graduated from this program in 1978, she began taking film classes and teaching at various universities including the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Colorado in Boulder, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Notes. They are alive poems.Remember the wind. A Wind Clan person climbed out first into the next world. Poetry selections from Bookgleaner@gmail.com - And I think of the 6th Avenue jail, of mostly Nativeand Black men, where Henry told about being shot ateight times outside a liquor store in L.A., but whenthe car sped away he was surprised he was alive,no bullet holes, man, and eight cartridges strewnon the sidewalk all around him. Singer, saxofonist, poet, performer, dramatist, and storyteller are just a few of her roles. In her 2012 memoir Crazy Brave, Harjo recounts stories of her youth, many of which were clouded by her stepfathers verbal and physical abuse. This new volume pays homage to her ancestors who traveled the Trail of Tears. It may be caught in corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse. Sun makes the day new.Tiny green plants emerge from earth.Birds are singing the sky into place.There is nowhere else I want to be but here.I lean into the rhythm of your heart to see where it will take us.We gallop into a warm, southern wind.I link my legs to yours and we ride together,Toward the ancient encampment of our relatives.Where have you been? Her work is a long-lasting contribution to our literature., Joys poetry voice is indeed ancient. Girl- Warrior perched on the sky ledge Overlooking the turquoise, green, and blue garden Of ocean and earth. http://Outwardboundideas.blogspot.com - September 29, 1989. https://billmoyers.com/content/ancestral-voices-2/. Her poetry is included on aplaque on LUCY, aNASA spacecraft launched in Fall 2021 and the first reconnaissance of the JupiterTrojans. Now you can have a party. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harjo is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. Also: Each month we send out the newsletter in print and email to a growing community of over 10,000 people. Harjo currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she serves as the first Artist-in-Residency of the Bob Dylan Center. Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038. As a member of the National Council on the Arts, she said, I was able to witness the impact of arts at the national level. She said artists deserve a seat at the decision-making table. There is nothing quite like poetry to give balm to ones soul. Joy Harjo was born on May 9, 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Or stones, or sky elements, or each other." Perhaps the best way to explicate Joy Harjo's belief in the connectedness of all entities is to cull through the poems where she has expressed this so elegantly. She strongly believes that telling stories and creating art is a pervasive ability thats not unique to those individuals whom society labels artist. She said, Everybody has a story about creation, so we therefore are part of the need to create. Copyright 2015 by Joy Harjo. With Caldecott Medalist Goade as illustrator, recent U.S. "Meet Joy Harjo, The First Native American U.S. No more greedy kings, no more disappointments, no more orphans, or thefts of souls or lands, no more killing for the sport of killing. Photo courtesy of Norton & Company, Inc. watermelon in the summer on the porch, and a mother so in love that her heart breaksit will never be the same, yet all memory bends to fit. Harjo is the author of ten books of poetry, including her most recent, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years ( 2022 ), the highly acclaimed An American Sunrise ( 2019 ), which was a 2020 Oklahoma Book Award Winner, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings ( 2015 ), which was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize and named a They sit before the fire that has been there without time. Harjo had a hard time speaking out loud because of these experiences. . In 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. Accessed July 10, 2019. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/joy-harjo. Before she could write words, she could draw. Harjo puts this idea into practice. Oftentimes, Americans think unique tribal backgrounds are one and the same. NPR. Her tribal ancestors of Muscogees (Mvskokes) were ousted from their homes and lands in Alabama, forced to abandon their lives and possessions, and trudged a Trail of Tears to the Oklahoma Territory. She has also served as a member of the NEAs National Council on the Arts and in numerous other advisory roles for the agency. Poetry Foundation. Now you can have a party. You must be friends with silence to hear. Drawing and acting classes were a much-needed escape from Harjos oppressive reality. Watch your mind. She went on to earn her MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop and teach English, Creative Writing, and American Indian Studies at University of California-Los Angeles, University of New Mexico, University of Arizona, Arizona State, University of Illinois, University of Colorado, University of Hawaii, Institute of American Indian Arts, and University of Tennessee, while performing music and poetry nationally and internationally. Poet Joy Harjo, pictured at the Governors Awards gala hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 27. And, there is, a cosmic hearteousnessfor the heart is the higher mind and nothing can be forgotten there, no ever or ever. Make a giveaway, and remember, keep the speeches short. The songs of the guardians of silence are the most powerful. Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038. Copyright1983 by Joy Harjo from She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo. Joy Harjo was appointed the new United States poet laureate in 2019. She has since published nine books of poetry, two memoirs, plays, and several books for young audiences, as well as editing several poetry collections. These helpers take many forms: animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor. (c/p from my review on TheStoryGraph) A beautiful book of poems. Cut the ties you have to failure and shame. You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return. Let go the pain of your ancestors to make way for those who are heading in our direction. and the giving away to night. The Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their original lands east of the Mississippi to "Indian Territory," which is now part of Oklahoma, via what is now referred to as The Trail of Tears. Watch your mind. Each word is a box that can be opened or closed. Let the earth stabilize your postcolonial insecure jitters. Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. Len, Concepcin De. "Meet Joy Harjo, The First Native American U.S. There's a damn good reason she's only the second person in our history to be named laureate 3 times (previously only Robert Pinsky had held that honor). You are evidence of. rich and reverential tribute to life, family, and poetry., Evoking the cyclical feeling of a slow breath in and out, its a smartly constructed, reflective picture book based in connection and noticing., The teeming images thrillingly catch young viewers up as they swirl, circles emphasizing the cyclical nature of life. We keep on breathing, walking, but softer now, What can we say that would make us understand, Except to speak of her home and claim her, as our own history, and know that our dreams, don't end here, two blocks away from the ocean. They hold the place for skinned knees earned by small braveries, cousins you love who are gone, a father cutting a She earned her BA from the University of New Mexico and MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop. Poet Laureate Harjos acclaimed poem becomes a beauty to beholdA She noted in 1993, after she had won a second fellowship, that with that first grant, I was able to buy childcare, pay rent and utilities, and my car payment while I wrote what would be most of my second book of poetry, She Had Some Horses, the collection that actually started my career. As a poet, activist, and musician, Joy Harjos work has won countless awards. http://Onwardboundhumor.blogspot.com - They will be happy to be found after being lost for so long. These influences equipped Harjo with the tools to make sense of her difficult childhood. Heredity is a field of blood, celebration, and forgetfulness. And the Old, Woman laughed as she slipped off her cheap shoes and parked them under the bed that lies at the center of the garden of good and evil. If our work brings you any hope and a sense of belonging, then please consider supporting our labor of love with a donation. After graduating from high school, Harjo attended the University of New Mexico as a Pre-Med student. I lean into the rhythm of your heart to see where it will take us. Her work is rich and profound, filled with phrases that linger in the air as they roll off the tongue. Nobody goes anywhere though we are always leaving and returning. The New York Times. Poet Laureate Harjos acclaimed poem becomes a beauty to behold. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence of the Bob DylanCenter. In addition to serving as athree-term U.S. We build walls to keep anyone who is not like us out of here. He is your life, also.Remember the earth whose skin you are:red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earthbrown earth, we are earth.Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have theirtribes, their families, their histories, too. Harjos awards include Yales 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, aLifetime Achievement Award from Americans for the Arts, aRuth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, aPEN USA Literary Award, the Poets &Writers Jackson Poetry Prize, two NEA fellowships, aGuggenheim Fellowship, and aNational Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. By Kerri Lee Alexander, NWHM Fellow | 2018-2020. Brief blurbs explaining history and quotes from oral histories and other poets are interwoven with her own work. Everyone laughed at the impossibility of it,but also the truth. In An American Sunrise, Harjo finds blessings in the abundance of her homeland and confronts the site where her people, and other indigenous families, essentially disappeared. The fathers cannot know what they are feeling in such a spiritual backwash. I chose the audible version in which Harjo reads her own work. I remembered it while giving birth, summer sun bearing down on the city melting asphalt but there we were, my daughter, and I, at the door between worlds. For example, from Harjo we . Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. That night after eating, singing, and dancing. Dont worry.The heart knows the way though there may be high-rises, interstates, checkpoints, armed soldiers, massacres, wars, and those who will despise you because they despise themselves. During this time, she joined one of the first all-native drama and dance groups. The work of Joy Harjo (Mvskoke, Tulsa, Oklahoma) challenges every attempt at introduction. Its a ceremony. They sit before the fire that has been there without time. Her Native-American heritage is central to her work and identityso much so that even her arms bear beautiful, intricate symbols of her tribe. From there she could hear the winds Lifting from their birthing places She could hear where sound began. Harjo has a beautiful, poetic voice that leaves a unique impression upon you - mix that with the originality of the topics of her poems and you have a collection here that is truly remarkable. This poem was constructed to carry any memory you want to hold close. In setting aside their smartphones for a minute, artists sew their own threads into the weaving of a broader cultural narrative. What you eat is political. Because who would believethe fantastic and terrible story of all of our survivalthose who were never meant to survive? Urgent tendrils lift toward the sun. This is what I remember she told her husband when they bedded down that night in the house that would begin. We separate children and cage them because they are breaking our Gods law. She is a current Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is a creative polymath, having experimented and succeeded in nearly every artistic discipline. Your spirit will need to sleep awhile after it is bathed and given clean clothes. There are no words when you cross the, gate of forbidden waters, or is it a sheer scarf of the finest silk, or is it something else that causes you to forget. She has recently been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Philosophical Society, the National Native American Hall of Fame, and the National Womans Hall ofFame. Planning on a reread to see how the words and phrasing are structured. A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to wina Nobel Peace Prize. We all want to be remembered, even memory, even the way the light came in the kitchen, window, when her mother turned up the dial on that cool mist color of a radio, when memory crossed the path of longing and took mothers arm and she put down her apron, said, I dont mind if I do, and they danced, you watching, as you began your own cache of remembering. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022 and is winner of Yale's 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry. Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your heart, all the way to your feet. It may return in pieces, in tatters. Yet, the prose is still poignant, and Harjo interjects the poems with historical anecdotes of the Cherokee Trail of Tears and how her Ocmulgee people have gotten to where they are today. The first of four children, Harjos birth name was Joy Foster; she later changed her name to Harjo, her Mvskoke grandmothers family name. Joy Harjo will become the 23rd poet laureate of the United States, making her the first Native American to hold the position. In beauty. One need look no further than Harjo herself to recognize the importance of art in promoting national cohesion, social progress, and cultural narrative. Joy Harjo has been named the new US Poet Laureate in 2019, becoming the first Native American to hold the position. Birds are singing the sky into place. the car sped away he was surprised he was alive, no bullet holes, man, and eight cartridges strewn. Harjos mother was a waitress of mixed Cherokee, Irish, and French descent. BillMoyers.com. more than once. Former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo has won an honorary award for lifetime achievement. Yes, theres a cosmic consciousness. Inside us. The Seine or Tennessee or any river with a soul knows the depths descending when it comes to seeing the sun or moon stare, back, without shame, remorse, or guilt. they ask.And what has taken you so long?That night after eating, singing, and dancingWe lay together under the stars.We know ourselves to be part of mystery.It is unspeakable.It is everlasting.It is for keeps. A reading of two (timely) poems, "Singing Everything" and "For Earth's Grandsons", by incumbent Poet Laureate of the United States, Joy Harjo, from her colle. This was when Harjo and her classmates changed how Native art was represented in the United States. In 2009, she won a NAMMY (Native American Music Award) for Best Female Artist of the Year. I struggle to review poetry but I can say that I found this a very moving collection of poems - recommended. which she connected to her mother's singing and her deep identification with music. For Keeps. In a day and age when social media and digital distractions are an arms length away, Harjo believes it especially important for people to learn how to unhook. She urges her younger students in particular to unplug from media in order to concentrate deeply and mindfully on the task at hand. And know there is more Already you had stored the taste of mother as milk, father as a labor, of sweat and love, and night as a lonely boat of stars that took you into who you were before you slid through the hips of the story.