The voice of a native poet warrior

Book Reviewed: Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years by Joy Harjo Joy Harjo’s poems is a collection of songs of a woman warrior's journey, a chant for survival of native heritage in the America her forefathers founded. Her voice illustrates resistance to occupation and describes the legacies of displacement. She claims that her voice is rooted itself in the Sandia Mountains, the Rio Grande River, in the sunrises and sunsets of the Southwest. Harjo's work is known for its lyrics and evocative language. She incorporates the elements of storytelling and oral tradition in her writing. I am fascinated by one of her poems, THE LAST SONG, part of which reads as follows. it is the only way I know how to breathe an ancient chant that my mother knew came out of a history woven from wet tall grass in her womb and I know no other way than to surround my voice with the summer songs of crickets in this moist south night air Here, Joy speaks bravely about the legacy and roots of her culture. She is the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, a position appointed by the Library of Congress. There are several poems in this book that resonates in spirit of “The Last Song.”