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All The World Ends Here By Joy Harjo Summary

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Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd Poet Laureate and is the first Native American to hold that honor. Joy Harjo’s poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” is a powerful reflection of the significance of everyday moments and the role of the kitchen table in our lives. The poem addresses several themes, including remembrance, childhood, and growth, reminding the reader to cherish the small moments of everyday life. Remembrance is seen as something that stays in one’s head and can not be forgotten, in the poem the author emphasizes this by saying “at this table, we gossip, recall enemies and ghosts of lovers.” The meaning behind this is the author’s way of recounting the past and sharing experiences with others at the table. She says “we” breaking the 4th wall and bringing the reader into perspective of what it would be like to be at …show more content…

Similarly, the author uses the table as a place of confinement and the beginning of life, “we have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents' burial here.” Joy Harjo argues that even parents can be responsible, especially when they pass. In other words, the table is a cycle of life, it is a sustenance of new beginnings and endings. The table is the central image of life and what it provides for the people in it. Ultimately, the essential life events that define humanity are birth, marriage, death, loss, and war. Joy Harjo’s poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” is a powerful reflection on the significance of everyday moments and the role of the kitchen table in our lives, including growth, childhood, and remembrance. The responsibility of children, remembrance of loved ones, and the dreams of one’s child correlate to the significance of life and humanity. The kitchen table represents what we go through and connects all areas of life, representing human

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