Great American Poets

Carter Revard and Joy Harjo are both well known Native American poets. They grew up fighting against racial discrimination, poverty, and all the common struggles that come along with life. Joy Harjo story is viewed as one that often involves some aspect of fear or negativity. Carter Revard’s story is depicted as often marked with troubles, but it also has a positive outcome or a sense of hope. Joy Harjo writes more metaphorically, while Revard is very direct in his meaning. Their writing styles are quite different from each other in many aspects, but they both tell a personal story with their poetry. They tell their story.

Joy Harjo grew up knowing that she wanting to be an artist. Pouring herself into whatever materials were available, she painted. But as she struggled against the ill effects of alcohol in both her life and the lives of those around her, and seeing as it was always readily available, she began to turn towards poetry. And it captivated her ever since. At the beginning of Joy Harjo’s book, How We Became Human, she writes about how she became an artist and a poet, but there are no specific explanations for each poem. Harjo’s poems are more difficult to understand. At first the tendency is to be perplexed by how such a thing could happen. Then she writes something like “Say I chew desire and water is an explosion of sugar wings in my mouth”(81) and realization that she is being extremely metaphoric floods in. Then there is the task of deciphering a metaphor that has little context. But after a third look there is the slight possibility of finding the smallest sliver of understanding. At least what you tell yourself is understanding because half an hour earlier you told yourself that if you didn’t find some understanding soon you were going to light the book on fire.

But perhaps she intentionally leaves them open to interpretation. While you may not ever be completely sure as to what the poem means to Joy Harjo, you can certainly create a new meaning for yourself. A meaning which reflects your life. A meaning which tells your story.

Carter Revard is a relatable artist. Revard makes it a point to give a background to his poems, preceding each one with a story. For example in his book Winning the Dust Bowl, the poem “Coyote Tells Why He Sings” follows a short explanation of the poem in which tells of his recollection of “how [he] found a voice to speak in this great wilderness.” A line from the poem:“And then the rill’s tune changed-I heard a rock drop that set new ripples gurgling, in a lower