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Happy Thanksgiving Friends,
One of the poems shared on social media this week was Perhaps The World Ends Here, by Joy Harjo. It's a lovely poem especially as we gather around holiday tables. The fifth stanza's opening grabbed me. I felt a need to respond.
How about you?
How about you?
Perhaps The World Ends Here
By Joy Harjo
The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
(read the rest here)
(read the rest here)
Response to Joy Harjo...
At This Table
We eat and talk
Sometimes, we are quiet
amongst junk mail, napkins,
and baseball caps
Mom has asked us a million times
to clear away.
These days, there is a plastic bucket
labeled with a sticky note
that reads dirty masks.
Sometimes, we are quiet
amongst junk mail, napkins,
and baseball caps
Mom has asked us a million times
to clear away.
These days, there is a plastic bucket
labeled with a sticky note
that reads dirty masks.
At this table we share
Pokemon achievements
and memes from our phones.
We chat about school and work.
We pass the salt, we say please
and thank you, move plates aside
for games of cribbage.
Pokemon achievements
and memes from our phones.
We chat about school and work.
We pass the salt, we say please
and thank you, move plates aside
for games of cribbage.
At this table, we alternate between singing prayer
or, real prayer--a bare-bones
quick thanks for the very hungry.
or, real prayer--a bare-bones
quick thanks for the very hungry.
At this table, we laugh and cry
or patch up fights.
Sometimes, rules are laid down
as sure as forks and knives.
or patch up fights.
Sometimes, rules are laid down
as sure as forks and knives.
At this table, we introduce
girlfriends or boyfriends
to the rest of us.
We are family
no matter who sits in a chair
to butter toast
sip wine
blow out birthday candles
sweep up crumbs
of this delicious life.
girlfriends or boyfriends
to the rest of us.
We are family
no matter who sits in a chair
to butter toast
sip wine
blow out birthday candles
sweep up crumbs
of this delicious life.
(c) Linda Mitchell Thanksgiving '20 (draft)
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| At this table we are grateful...mixed media card by Linda |
Your table sounds like a wonderful place to be! Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea to write a response to "At this Table!" Thanks for inviting me in, I felt like I was right there. Beautiful card too Linda!
ReplyDeleteWhat a rich table you set! Thanks for reminding me of Joy Harjo's poem and for sharing your heartfelt response. I especially like your ending lines, and your card is also gorgeous! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteLove this response, Linda... and your card is gorgeous! Tucking "at this table" into my notebook as as prompt to respond to very soon... Thank you. xo
ReplyDeleteI, too, read Joy Harjo's poem. I love her work and recently clipped Eagle Poem for my journal. Your response is such a personal poem, yet we all know the universal conversations of a family with almost adults. I do miss those days. Your post reminded me of a poem I wrote about our table that my husband built. It's after Naomi Shihab Nye's poem The Comfort of Wood: https://reflectionsontheteche.com/2014/02/21/wishes-on-wood/
ReplyDeleteI love this Linda. The kitchen table (or in my case dining room because I have a tiny kitchen with no room for a table) is such an ordinary place, where such sacred and holy and life giving things go on. You've captured that blend between ordinary and sacred perfectly. Definitely saving this one!
ReplyDeleteYes! This poem is such an invitation. Your card is gorgeous and I love your poem, especially the last two lines.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful card -- and love your poem -- Harjo's poem was one of the first I ever shared at Alphabet Soup back in 2007! Wonderful to read it again and your response to it. All the specifics provide insight into family life.
ReplyDeleteSo many of our respective rituals occur around the table. The celebration of festivals the world over frequently involve the intersection of feast and family. Thank you Linda for this reminder.
ReplyDeleteI love both your art and your poem -- an ode to the "crumbs
ReplyDeleteof this delicious life."
Oh, Linda, I love this poem. And I love your poem too! The card is gorgeous! Your poem makes me want to write one too. "We are family no matter who sits in a chair." Words to treasure.
ReplyDeleteI love your response poem. I contains so much family. "We are family no matter who sits in a chair." Love that.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. That ending. And the bucket for the dirty masks. And "We are family
ReplyDeleteno matter who sits in a chair
to butter toast
sip wine
blow out birthday candles
sweep up crumbs
of this delicious life."
Mercy.
Oh my goodness, that card is phenomenal--takes on a 3D effect and the colors are perfect. And Oh my goodness, that poem is phenomenal--takes on the depth effect that we are always looking for and the pieces are perfect.
ReplyDelete"Sometimes, rules are laid down
as sure as forks and knives."
One of your best, Linda!
Your mixed media card is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI love these lines in your response poem:
At this table, we alternate between singing prayer
or, real prayer--a bare-bones
quick thanks for the very hungry.
They made me smile.
I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful
I love both of these poems! I always love Joy's poems--although I haven't seen this one before. Your poem also captures the life that occurs around the kitchen table. A tasty response! I especially like the end--"sweep up crumbs of this delicious life."
ReplyDelete