Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (Part 5)
By Joy Harjo
5. Eliminate negative attitudes during conflict
A panther poised in the cypress tree about to jump is a panther poised in a cypress tree about to jump.
The panther is a poem of fire green eyes and a heart charged by four winds of four directions.
The panther hears everything in the dark: the unspoken tears of a few hundred human years, storms that will break what has broken his world, a bluebird swaying on a branch a few miles away.
He hears the death song of his approaching prey:
I will always love you, sunrise.
I belong to the black cat with fire green eyes.
There, in the cypress tree near the morning star.
From Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings — Poems by Joy Harjo.
We will publish part 6 in next month’s edition.
Listen to Pádraig Ó Tuama discuss Harjo’s poem in his podcast Poetry Unbound
