TEXT IV

Remember

Joy Harjo 1951

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 the strongest point

of time. Remember sundown and the giving away to night.

Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you

form and breath. You are evidence of her life, and her

mother’s, and hers.

Remember your father. He is your life, also. Remember the

earth whose skin you are:

red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth brown earth,

we are earth.

Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their

tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen

to them. They are alive poems.

Remember the wind.

Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe.

Remember you are all people and all people are you.

Remember you are this universe and this universe is you.

Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.

Remember language comes from this.

Remember the dance language is, that life is.

Remember.

“Remember.” Copyright © 1983 by Joy Harjo from She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Available on https://poets.org/poem/remember-0 Accessed on: December 17 th 2025.