Today.
I hope you laugh and cry at the table, hope you remember what it means and why it matters. May your table be wide enough, strong enough, round enough, to carry all you contain, all the weight of your world.
As you gather, as you grieve, as you prepare and partake of the gifts of earth.
As you give thanks for all that was, and is, and is to come.
Wishing you a sacred Thanksgiving. Ever grateful for all of you and for your support and fellowship throughout the years.
Poetry soothes, sometimes can even save, the soul.
And so in this sacred season, and on this sacred day, I share the below poem by Joy Harjo with you. Joy Harjo is a poet, performer, and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
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. Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table. This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun. Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory. We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here. At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks. Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.
"Perhaps the World Ends Here" from The Woman Who Fell From the Sky by Joy Harjo. Copyright © 1994 by Joy Harjo. From Poetry Foundation.
We hold grief and gratitude together, at the same time, at the table. Thank you for sharing the photograph of such a joyful family moment, Rachel. ❤️
You are loved, Rachel. I pray today’s table is gentle.
As always, grateful. 🥹 Susan