Honoring Bounty
Thanksgiving Thoughts
We break for a holiday that properly centers on giving thanks for bounty, a type of holiday or season honored for millennia by cultures worldwide. Still, in this country, this celebration's origin came at the indigenous people's expense. So, while I celebrate bounty and harvest, I want to take a moment to center indigenous people.
If you read my posts regularly or know me at all, you know that one of my identities is a poet, and I celebrate poetry regularly. In my recent move to this new house and the third time I have trimmed my book collection in the last eight years, poetry books remain. This thought warms me. Bury me with poetry.
I present one of my favorite poems of all time by former US Poet-Laureate Joy Harjo (the first indigenous poet to hold that role): Perhaps the World Ends Here.
Indigenous Poetry Resources
Indigenous Poetry @ Poetry Foundation
Preparing the Table
There will be berries, pumpkins, and all sorts of comforting foods. How will you be preparing your table?
I am most grateful when I am sitting at a table engaging in conversation with loved ones. And yes, there have been hard times and hard conversations, but conflict sharpens our abilities to be better humans in the long run (if we accept the challenge).
For however brief I am here on this blue planet, I am home at the table.
May everyone enjoy the opportunity to strengthen bonds and enjoy a celebratory meal this week.
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