look at me
i am not a separate woman i am a continuance
of blue sky
i am the throat
of the mountains
a night wind
who burns
with every breath
she takes
—Joy Harjo
Tracing path
kindled blaze
sunrise then set
leading into light.
Stealing fire red
pearling raven’s beak
kindred eye
black night eye.
How many languages
have a word for fire
following fear in translation
desire.
No two flames the same
every ember becoming…
…
Reverse the image: Racing past
Daring fire
Lavablack unseeing simmers
Every flame one flame
Child
You are in a blind
desert child
your "too-muchness" is written
in the Torah
child it is written
in the pit
written in black fire
on white fire
deer star
black star
third star
who sees
— Jean Valentine
NOTES
—Photos public art/street art, poem Tracing path, Douglas Beauchamp
—Joy Harjo from the poem Fire in What Moon Drove Me to This? (1980)
—Jean Valentine, Child in The Cradle of the Real Life (2000)
Below:
—Sandy Denny from Who Knows Where The Time Goes (1967)
Across the purple sky, all the birds are leaving
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time
—Sandy Denny
