It's Saturday morning in Honolulu, the last Saturday morning I'll be here for nearly a month, so I'm savoring the bird racket (about a thousand doves cooing,and cooing can be very aggressive despite the dove stereotypes) the mynah birds carrying on, tiny flocks of some kind of tiny green finch, the java sparrows i.e. butler birds, cardinal pair, then the military helicopters--war birds. I'm not savoring the sound of war. It has invaded this island, is rotting out the consciousness of our country. We have to keep going and find ways to refresh with clear truth, fresh images and sounds, and look towards creating a world of respect, a world in which all these birds can live, as they do, in the same community. You don't see the doves out there trying to convert all the other birds to dove ways, although they can be a nuisance.
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I debated on whether to let this out or not, but figured it might be helpful.
FOR A GIRL BECOMING A WOMAN
for Krista Rae Chico
That day your spirit came to us rains came in from the Pacific to bless
They peered over the mountains in response to the singing of medicine plants
Who danced back and forth in shawls of mist
Your mother labored there, so young in earthly years
And your father, and all of us who loved you gathered there,
Pollen blew throughout that desert house to bless us
With the fragrant knowledge of your pending arrival here.
And horses were running the land, hundreds of them for you,
To bring you here, to bless.
Girl, I wonder what you thought as you paused there in your spirit house
Before you entered into the breathing world to be with us?
Were you lonely for us, too?
Our relatives in that beloved place dressed you in black hair,
Brown eyes, skin the color of earth, and turned you in the direction of this place.
We want you to know that we urgently gathered to welcome you here; we came
Bearing gifts to celebrate.
From your mother’s house we brought: poetry, music, medicine makers, stubbornness, beauty, tribal leaders, a yard of junk cars and the gift of knowing how to make them run. We carried turquoise, white shell, new clothes and joy for you.
And from your father’s house came educators, thinkers, dreamers, weavers and mathematical genius. They carried a cradleboard, hope and coral for you.
We brought blankets to wrap you in, soft beaded moccasins of deerskin to warm your feet; we made a home of love for you.
Did you hear us as you traveled from your rainbow house?
We called you with thunder, with singing.
Did you see us as we gathered in the town beneath the mountains?
We were dressed in hope and happiness.
Did you taste the metals of the earth giving muscle to our dreaming?
We are part of the stars, the impetus of the stars.
We were overwhelmed, as you moved through the weft of your mother
When you took your first breath, your eyes blinked wide open.
Now you are becoming a woman.
You are moving from one knowing into another.
Now, breathe.
And when you breathe remember the source of the gift of breathing.
When you walk, remember the source of the gift of walking.
And when you run, remember the source of the gift of all running.
And when you laugh, remember the source of the gift of all laughter.
And when you cry, remember the source of the gift of all crying.
And when you think, remember the source of the gift of all thinking.
And when your heart is broken, remember the source of the gift of all breaking.
And when you are tested by fire, remember the source of the gift of all fire.
And when you are tested by wind, remember the source of the gift of all wind.
And when you are tested by water, remember the source of the gift of all water.
And when you are tested by earth, remember the source of the gift of all earth.
All of this, and you must remember what comes of this is compassion.
Don’t forget how you started your journey from that rainbow house,
How you traveled and will travel through the mountains and valleys of human tests.
There are treacherous places along the way, but you can come to us.
There are lakes of tears shimmering sadly there, but you can come to us.
And valleys without horses or kindnesses, but you can come to us.
And angry, jealous gods and humans who will try to hurt you, but you can come to us.
You will fall, but you will get back up again, because you are one of us.
And as you travel through this middle world remember all this:
Give a drink of water to all who need it, whether they be plant, creature, spirit or human.
May you always have clean, fresh water.
Feed your neighbors, be they earthly or spirit. Give kind words and assistance to your parents, brothers and sisters and family.
May you be surrounded with the helpfulness of family and good friends. We are all related in this place.
Grieve with the grieving, share joy with the joyful. Forget gossip or hurtful talk.
May you be build a strong path with beautiful and truthful language.
Clean your room.
May you always have a home, a refuge.
Bury what needs to be buried. Do not harbor hurt.
May you always travel lightly and well.
Praise and give thanks for each small and large thing.
Review each act and thought.
May you grow in knowledge, in compassion, in beauty.
Always within you is that day your spirit came to us
When rains came in from the Pacific to bless
They peered over the mountains in response to the singing of medicine plants
Who danced back and forth in shawls of mist
Your mother labored there, so young in earthly years
And your father, and all of us who loved you gathered there,
Pollen blew throughout that desert house to bless us
With the fragrant knowledge of your pending arrival here.
And horses were running the land, hundreds of them for you,
To bring you here, to bless.
c Joy Harjo
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I am totally converting to Garage Band for my song drafts. It is easy to use, is on my computer. All I need is a plug-in box, mic (and I'm using my Shur 58) and a hard drive. I did use the Boss 864 digital recorder before. Excellent little recorder. Is user friendly. Any more I read manuals before buying equipment. If they are unreadable, and some are incomprehensible--and I consider myself an excellent reader--then I won't buy it. If anyone's interested in thisi recorder, let me know.
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Also, just got the news yesterday that Silver Wave is backing way off distribution and recording. Only released two albums last year. That means my Letter from the End of the Twentieth Century will be without distribution. I'll have to take it over. So again, SOS, I'm still looking for distribution for BOTH of my CD's, for someone to help get the music into the world. I've been lucky to have all of my books remain in print, except for the first two very early ones. And they continue to sell well because they are available for people to read. The music needs to be available for hearing--that's been the hard part.
My first take on the news was to start my emotional dive. I watched myself get ready, almost like putting on my swimsuit to go paddling. Then I stopped to observe it all. Asked myself what purpose would jumping into a pit of failure and defeat serve? I can recast this an opportunity. Now I've got to find distribution or become an excellent distribution house. (Yes, and how am I going to do that when I am being an artist, traveling and performing, and teaching three-and-a-half months out of the year, taking care of family and others, etc...) We'll see. If I consider it a game rather than an attack, it changes the whole shape, possibility is created. I could succeed or I could fail, and if I fail I'll get back up and keep trying.
It has taken me several hundred years to be able to stop at that moment in a process. Maybe thousands of years.
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My schedule is something like this:
Tuesday Feb 22, Hosting Luci Tapahonso at UCLA, Teach
Wed Feb 23, To Tulsa
Thurs and Friday Feb 24-25, Researching at the Creek Council House in Okmulgee
Saturday, Hosting Ted Isham at UCLA/Proposal in
Tuesday March 1, Teach UCLA
Thursday-Sunday March 3-6-to Northern California to perform for and work with native children
Tuesday March 8, Host Sherwin Bitsui, UCLA, Teach
Thursday March 10-13, to Portland, perform at Willamette University and Powell's Bookstore and attend powwow
Tuesday March 15, Last classes at UCLA
Wed March 16-18 to Slippery Rock, PA for performance
Sunday 20-Home to Honolulu
The last week of the month, to Dennison University in Ohio near Columbus...and then travels through April and May.
I hope to see you out there.
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