Last night in my sleep, I ran with my ancestors. We ran a dirt road on red land. Shirtless, we held high our fists and cried our passion across the bright desert. Later, we sat by the fire and talked story into the night. We watered our future with visions of a good way of life. In our stories, our children ran free. No hungry ghosts chased them. No unnatural beings hunted them for their land. Our language ran free, too. It flowed as a waterfall from our tongues. The words were our own words, which meant they carried Love for our people. Our words were like fat maize on the stalk. We feasted. Women walked safe amongst their own people. Our elders were held by their own people. We grew quiet as they spoke. They had lifetimes to pour into us. We drank. We laughed and cried in a good way. We slept sweetly with peace in our bones and freedom dancing on the lightness of our breath. New sun flamed over the horizon. Desert birds sang our morning song. We rose with a reason. We would not wander in this new day. We were known to ourselves. Our vision was clear. Our hearts as free as the wind. Last night in my sleep, I ran with my ancestors. We were as wild horses who knew not of bondage. Our skin glistened in the sun. Our muscles moved like the sweetgrass. It was sacred. It was a living prayer. It was good.
Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini)
All These Rivers and You Chose Love
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JAIYA JOHN'S
THE GATHERING.
A WORLD TOUR.
a poetry reading ceremony and
book collection sales and signing
Upcoming tour dates:
APRIL 5 and 6. Oakland, California (tickets)
APRIL 11. Virtual worldwide poetry reading (tickets)
APRIL 26 and 27. Navajo Nation (tickets)
I am excited to join you in your community to read from my collection of 19 books and unpublished work, bringing to life the spirit of the medicine words. I say reading, though incantation and prayer are truer. Thematically, these readings are on collective freedom, and take on the flavor of each audience from gathering to gathering. A rich weaving of cultural fabric. These gatherings center Indigenous, marginalized, dehumanized people and communities, and are remembrance songs, bringing us back to our Indigenous ancestral ways of gathering and being together. As this tour is part of my global Soul Water Rising rehumanizing mission, we stir the soul to remember itself as we garden our collective liberation and the end of oppressive systems and ways of life.
I am also honored to include, at some of the gatherings, live Sacred Conversations with revolutionary souls who inspire me. During these gatherings, I also commune with the audience in questions and conversation. And we build into this healing experience what we are calling Aftercare. After the reading, we care for each other as I make myself available for sacred listening and embraces, tears and laughter, photos, and book collection purchasing and signing.
As a part of Soul Water Rising's Book Angel Project, whether or not you attend a particular gathering, you have the opportunity to purchase books that we then gift to vulnerable souls with whom we gather along the tour.
The Gathering is a people's freedom movement. The tour is happening in cafés, bookstores, libraries, prisons, hospitals, shelters, community centers, women's centers, college campuses, HBCU's, Indigenous reservations, art galleries, art studios, museums, parks, amphitheaters, auditoriums, theaters, festivals, and stadiums. Call out to us. We go where we are called.
You can play an organic role in this. If you desire for the tour to come your way, email me through our tour page at jaiyajohn.com. You or someone you know may be able to help identify aligned venues, communities, and audiences.
Tour dates and locations are announced on a rolling calendar as sites are secured. This tour is a culmination, crystallizing, and new season of my life's journey, work, and calling. I am awed and enchanted to read for you and embrace you in a healing way.
We will see each other soon, in Love, at The Gathering.
Big Love,
Jaiya
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My books are available at booksellers worldwide and directly from the author at jaiyajohn.com (eBooks are exclusively at my site). Thank you for posting your copies, readings, and creative images and videos, and for sharing online reviews. It all breathes life into a book's life. I hope you will gift these books to your people.
Also at jaiyajohn.com, enjoy my books, eBooks, audiobooks, talks, sleep stories, and piano music. I also offer creative writing support phone sessions, keynote speaking, talks, and book/poetry readings.
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Jaiya, this piece is like a beautiful melody, sweet strings serenading winds of freedom. Thank you for the gifts you share so willingly, without hesitation. Your song continues to bless us all.