This Morning I Pray for My Enemies

Like much of Harjo’s work, “This Morning I Pray for My Enemies” can be read as a philosophical critique of U.S. culture. In her writing, Harjo frequently aims to call into question dominant narratives and to disrupt traditional poetic structures. “This Morning” is an excellent example of how Harjo’s work can be located in her larger socio-historical context. While many authors write in response to the social, political, and cultural dynamics of the society in which they live, Harjo’s way of approaching political critique is uniquely hers. As an Indigenous American author living and working in colonized spaces, Harjo attempts to both reflect her own heritage and to resist assimilation. “This Morning” reacts to the U.S. socio-historical context in several key ways: It’s written in free verse, it’s circular in narration, and it uses specific natural imagery and metaphors to build a philosophical conclusion.

Further, the content of the poem—which heavily relies on the question of who one’s enemies are—can be read as a direct response to U.S. society and history, which often reinforces violent boundaries: Some people are enemies and some people are not. Harjo wrote “This Morning” sometime in the early 2010s, though it was published in 2015 as part of a larger collection of poetry that repeatedly addresses the dispossession and mistreatment of indigenous people in the U.