The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.
by Joy Harjo, Retrieved from The Poetry Foundation at this link on October 12, 2025
Invitation: “This table has been…”
Joy Harjo, an internationally renowned poet, musician, and member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, served as the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate (2019–2022). The author of Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light and two memoirs, she lives on the Muscogee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma. Check out some of her books at this link: https://www.joyharjo.com/books
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An interesting poem with the honest, sound, cohesive perspective that a woman gives to balance humanity against male violence, wars, aggression and conflict. Technically I think the last stanza is flawed by the stilted phrase “of eating”. The poem is about connection, not exclusion, and for that I applaud and am grateful for Jean & Pat bringing the poem albeit with flaw to our attention.
Thank you for inviting us to your kitchen table. What a beautiful selection from Joy Harjo as we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, to whom our land belongs and our teachers in caring for the earth and all beings in this web of life in which we dwell.🩷🙏