What is shared with all tribal nations in North America is the knowledge that the earth is a living being, and a belief in the power of language to create, to transform, and to establish change. Words are living beings. Poetry in all its forms, including songs, oratory, and ceremony, both secular and sacred, is a useful tool for the community. Though it is performative there is no separation of audience and performer.
Joy Harjo, introduction to When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry
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“But what should we do? Drown or commit suicide? I do not know what Isreal wants us to do.” - Refaat Alareer
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“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race… poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
— Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams 🕊️
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📚
"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive." - James Baldwin
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I’m so sick of having to explain to white people that even if they’re the nicest ever even if they’re an ally as pocs we have to be weary until we know otherwise. Because even the white “allies” have jumped ship and used their privilege against us when it’s convenient for them. Idc how you were raised, as pocs from birth we’re taught to be on guard, it’s unfortunate but it’s just the reality we’re living in.
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August is laughing across the sky,
Laughing while paddle, canoe and I,
Drift, drift,
Where the hills uplift
On either side of the current swift.
Emily Pauline Johnson, “The Song My Paddle Sings”
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child of color.
the child of color
fought to learn how to read
each step they came closer
to learning the white man's greed
the child of color
fought to keep their culture alive
each time they copied their mother
they learned it would be difficult to survive
the child of color
fought regardless of the punches
each step a display of valor
they knew the fate of the future
mattered more than the endless pinches
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9:40am (body)
i will never be in a different body
but this body has kept me alive for longer than i intended
(not to say this negatively, i'm thankful now.)
but this journey of body neutrality has been long
this body has gotten me through heavy mornings,
the sheets wanting to wrap around me tighter until i sink
but this body persisted, moving my legs one after the other
keeping me looking forward
this body has endured pain like i had never felt
excruciating, terrifying, isolating
and yet it still healed itself with time, two times even
and carries me even when it's exhausted from the day
this body has kept me safe, warm, soft
choosing to grow from the pain it's endured
physical and emotional, it all feels the same to me
it heals, though, keeping my proverbial roots strong in the ground
this body has suffered but it has also lived
the scars and art on my skin tell my story so far
so i continue to dress it ornately or comfortably, showing it love,
and making sure it's loved on by someone else as much as it's loved
by me
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