The Poetics of Carol Muske and Joy HarjoI began a study of autobiography and memoir writing several years ago. Recently, I discovered two poets who believe that recording one's place in history is an integral part of their art. Carol Muske and Joy Harjo are renowned poets who explore the intricacies of the self as it relates to cultural and historical place. Muske specifically addresses the poetics of women poets, while Harjo addresses the poetics of minority writers, particularly Native American. Both poets emphasize the autobiographical nature of poetry. Muske and Harjo view the self as an integral part of their art. In this self-representation, Muske and Harjo discuss the importance of truthful testimony and history in their poetics. Muske says, “…testimony exists to confront a world beyond the self and the drama of the self, even the world of silence – or unresponse…” (Muske 16). Muske asks: “The question of the self, for a woman poet. ...is continually vexing...what is a woman's self? (Muske 3). Historically, women have had their selves created for them by the patriarchal society they live in, leaving contemporary women wondering how to define a woman's self. Even if they, as women, can create a self, how precise is it? Muske reflects on what truth is told, since a woman's perception of the truth is always colored by what patriarchal society tells her is the truth. Muske says in his poem “A Private Matter”: “…there are the words, the dialogue of the people you have become or not…”. It is in these words that a woman finds herself, a poem of her whole self, but not without a price. In “Epith,” Muske reflects: “You forget yourself with every glittering pin, every sliver of the old rock, every sip of the long toast to your famous independence, bargained for at such a price – and you still refuse to adapt.” “The tendency to bear witness seems aligned with the missing self” (Muske 4). Women create the “missing” self by telling their stories, not the ones told to them by a male-dominated society, but the stories that define that missing self. In doing so, Muske reiterates James Olney's statement when he says: "...even if the autobiographer sets boundaries in the past, a new experience of life, a new experience of consciousness...and a new projection or metaphor of a new I'm on my way” (Olney).