I Give You Back by Joy Harjo

            I chose the poem I Give You Back by Joy Harjo.  I believe this poem was written out of a hard personal experience.  It is a poem of hope and courage in the face of fear.  Fear has a life of its own to this woman – her hated twin.  She must let go of the fear and feel the pain of its release as deeply as if it were the death of her own child.

            The horrific atrocities that she has experienced are playing over and over again in her head.  She can’t take a breathe without physically feeling the pain of the fear that was instilled on her when these men took over and conducted themselves as savage beasts.  They let the children go hungry so they could stuff themselves.  These men raped the women – her mother.  She saw it; she was there; she will never forget their faces and the fear and pain of her mother.

            Now she is away from their inhumane behavior, yet her eyes never close.  She experiences the anger and fear every minute of every day.  She can’t escape the images in her mind’s eye.  She must take control.  She must take her life back.  The only real revenge is to do well and to succeed.  They win if she allows fear to control the rest of her life.

            She is facing her fears and screaming to be relieved of it.  Fear cannot control her unless she allows it.  It chokes her, but she gave it the leash.  It guts her, but she gave it the knife.  Reject the fear – push it away.  She is fighting with every fiber of her being to destroy the fear and live her life in freedom.  She will succeed – but fear is fighting back not wanting to die.