To make up for the food we lacked

We were so poor that we took turns
Drinking each other’s blood
To make up for the food we lacked
50 years passed
There were no scabs on our bodies
We bathed in cold water and lived on blood
My mother, my sister, and I

james lee jobe

Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.

Joy Harjo



I would like to tell you
That life is eternal
But it isn’t the truth
Even you are impermanent

james lee jobe

Thelonious Monk, Epistrophy

No sun today, just rain, says he
Ah, the sun is truly there, says me
Behind gray clouds, the sun hides her face
And on another day will share her grace

james lee jobe

I hitch-hiked 3000 miles
From the Chesapeake Bay to the San Francisco Bay
Appalachian Mountains
Kentucky bluegrass
The muddy Mississippi
The rolling plains (amber waves of grain)
The Rockies
The stark boldness of the desert
The Sierra Nevada Mountains
And the pine and redwood forest
California farmlands
I met working folk who gave me rides
And sometimes fed me
Or volunteered a place for me to sleep
Sometimes I slept rough under the stars
Not one soul tried to hurt me in any way
May they all be blessed
May the mountains and plains and rivers be blessed
May the desert and the highways be blessed
And may California that became my home be blessed
And bless you, too
Yes bless you most of all

james lee jobe

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jlj