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50th out of 405 books
—
247 voters
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky: Poems
by
Joy Harjo (Goodreads Author)
She draws from the Native American tradition of praising the land and the spirit, the realities of American culture, and the concept of feminine individuality.
Paperback, 88 pages
Published
August 17th 1996
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1994)
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I don't remember reading any of Joy Harjo's poetry before sitting down with The Woman Who Fell from the Sky. So I can't say whether or not the style, its form on the page, is representative of her work. I was a little while warming up to it, but warm I did. She writes a long line, and she forms those lines into short stanza blocks. It looks meditative, though I didn't get a sense of meditation. Or lyricism, either. They're more declarative and simply stated. Their service is to affirm. What's mo...more
This was the first book of poetry that I read from Joy Harjo, and I was instantly hooked. For people who live in northeastern Oklahoma, or who are from the region, the words and descriptions of nature instantly speak to you, and it is easy to relate to what is being expressed as well as described. Joy's Native American heritage is always at the forefront of her work, and her poems portray the modern-day struggles and reality that many indigenous people continue to face.
Gorgeous book of poetry. Each poem ends with a short essay which I found very enlightening.
Some beautiful poems I want to remember
Reconciliation, Sonata for the Invisible, and Promise.
Some passages which spoke to me personally
"All acts of kindness are lights in the war for justice"
"It had been years since I'd seen the watermonster who lived at the bottom of the lake. He had disappeared in the age of reason, as a mystery that never happened."
"It's possible to understand the world from studying a...more
Some beautiful poems I want to remember
Reconciliation, Sonata for the Invisible, and Promise.
Some passages which spoke to me personally
"All acts of kindness are lights in the war for justice"
"It had been years since I'd seen the watermonster who lived at the bottom of the lake. He had disappeared in the age of reason, as a mystery that never happened."
"It's possible to understand the world from studying a...more
There are some hidden gem lines buried within the poems. However the fact that Harjo goes through the trouble of adding context and explanations as additions to the poems annoyed me to no end. Why couldn't the poems stand alone and speak for themselves?
liked it, not my favorite kind of poetry but is concerned with several types of origin stories as well as family and cultural trauma.
This is a true 5-star for me - I'm not a poem person, but there are a few exceptions. This book was really beautiful.
I use this book when I teach. I like that it came with a cd, which I also use when I teach.
Native American poetry, historical in nature, biographic, Southwestern. Picture painting.
Dec 19, 2009
Lisa
marked it as to-read
The Woman Who Fell from The Sky: Poems by Joy Harjo (1996)
A few amazing poems, several that are simply interesting/decent. Harjo relies on one syntactic structure overmuch (the hallucinatory run-on sentence overpacked with too many images). Sometimes, though, these experiments work and her dreamy poetry becomes visionary.
I have nothing against the poet, but the fact she places explanations at the end of each poem ruins it for me. I don't give a fuck what inspired you to write something. I just want to read your work, thank you.
Leave interpretation up to me...
Leave interpretation up to me...
learned more about Turtle Island...how to fall from 13 floors, Joy Harjo's ability to encapsulate an entire culture in one line and move it to another era in the next.
Oh perhaps Plath isn't my favorite poet; I forgot how much I love Joy Harjo. My well read, well loved, much written in copy has TWO different handwritings in it....
I loved the second half of this book way more than the first half, and the author's poem "Deer Dancer" (not in this book) is my ultimate favorite of hers!
Joy Harjo is a genius. This book contains one of my all-time most-loved poems about kitchen tables.
joy = prosetry of the most divine kind. i love 'the myth of blackbirds'.
Excellent and profound. Inspirational for the poet that I am.
May 16, 2013
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Bio Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a member of the Mvskoke Nation. She has released four award-winning CD's of original music and won a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Female Artist of the Year. She performs nationally and internationally solo and with her band, The Arrow Dynamics. She has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, in venues in every major U.S. city and...more
More about Joy Harjo...
Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a member of the Mvskoke Nation. She has released four award-winning CD's of original music and won a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Female Artist of the Year. She performs nationally and internationally solo and with her band, The Arrow Dynamics. She has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, in venues in every major U.S. city and...more
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“It's possible to understand the world from studying a leaf. You can comprehend the laws of aerodynamics, mathematics, poetry and biology through the complex beauty of such a perfect structure.
It's also possible to travel the whole globe and learn nothing.”
—
8 people liked it
More quotes…
It's also possible to travel the whole globe and learn nothing.”
Nov 02, 2011 01:42pm
Nov 02, 2011 03:09pm
It was just the one poem, but, yes, I did like it and certainly would like to read more by h...more
Nov 02, 2011 06:16pm