This is a unique episode today because instead of telling you a story or waxing on about nature

and poetry and how we must find ways to survive despite the constant chaos of our world, I have some

big news. Big news that as of today I can finally share. And I suppose it's a story too. About a month

ago I was asked to join a mysterious Zoom meeting for an unknown reason. I was told to log on at a

certain time and I did. There in the virtual room was the librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden,

along with her team smiling around her, she offered me the chance to serve as the 24th Poet Laureate

of the United States. Mind you, I was recovering from strep throat and a little foggy from being sick

and I could barely speak. There are times when words fail, even me. And this was one of them.

I immediately thought of the poet's laureate I had known of, read, looked up to in my lifetime.

Stanley Cunus, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mark Strand, Rita Dove, Robert Haas, Billy Collins, Robert Pinsky,

Philip Levine, Natasha Trethaway, Juan Felipe Herrera, Tracy K. Smith, and most recently,

the powerhouse that is Joy Harjo, a veritable pantheon of poets, mentors and teachers all.

How does one fathom such a role to have the chance to serve poetry on such a scale?

When I found my words again, I said yes. Of course, yes. Soon after, I visited the three

enormous buildings of the Library of Congress for an orientation. I saw the ceremonial office in the

Jefferson building and Elizabeth Bishop's sturdy but small desk. Orientation felt more like

disorientation, but there I was in the largest library in the world that holds more than 173 million

items. In my overwhelm, I felt myself searching for something to anchor me. And of course,

what anchored me is what always has poems. Today's poem is by Joy Harjo, the incredible poet and

human who served as poet laureate for an unprecedented three terms. Without, by Joy Harjo,

the world will keep trudging through time without us. When we lift from the story contest to fly

home, we will be as falling stars to those watching from the edge of grief and heartbreak.

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