Remember

This is an anaphoric poem, that is, a poem in which the speaker repeats a word over and over, creating a strong rhythm and drawing attention to the importance of the repeated word. The word is “remember,” which suggests the reader may have forgotten something.

The speaker tells the reader, and therefore all humanity, to “remember” a list of specific ideas that the speaker presents as facts. Presumably, readers have forgotten these facts, which is why the speaker must remind them. A reader can also interpret the repetition of “remember” to mean that the ideas the speaker presents are from an earlier time, either historically or in the life of the reader. She is not presenting new information. She is reminding them of something that has already been established. That is why she uses the word “remember” instead of “imagine,” “discover,” or “believe.”

The cumulative lines of the poem point to a similar theme, which is to remember nature and to treat the elements of the natural world as family. The speaker delineates a large tapestry of the natural world, including the sky, celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, and stars, the earth as a whole, and the plant and animal worlds. The point is to expand readers’ minds to consider the totality of the world they live in and themselves as only a small part of a larger whole.

The speaker presents these facts as comforting to the reader, suggesting that the natural world is benevolent and wise. She suggests the natural elements of the world, including the sun and stars, are listening and talking to humanity. The stars have “stories” (Line 3), and the wind has been around forever. Plants and animals also have their own history and families. Presumably, these elements contain wisdom that only stars and wind might have, and they are willing to share with humanity if human beings would remember to listen to them. Harjo’s language suggests it is more incumbent on humans to open their ears than it is on the natural elements to speak.

Lastly, the speaker refers to language as the result of all of the “motion” and “growing” (Line 23) of humanity and nature. She calls language and life a “dance” (Line 25). This is significant because it points not to a hierarchy of things but to an interconnectedness of things. Life itself is created by all of the natural elements moving and growing with one another, interacting with each other, as in a dance. This explains why everything must remain separate, so that separate entities can interact. This is what allows life itself, allows dancing, and causes the need for language.

In the last word of the poem, the speaker repeats again “Remember” (Line 26). The fact that the speaker repeats the word so many times (including the title) establishes a rhythm, but it also emphasizes the importance of continuing to think about and “remember” these important ideas.