I Introduce to You the Amazing Poet, Naomi Shihab Nye

Today I introduce you to another of my favorite poets, Ms. Naomi Shihab Nye, and I share one of her poems, "Some Days". I have all of her books and her poetry is amazing, just like her! Here is a short bio about her:

"Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet and songwriter born in 1952 to a Palestinian father and American mother. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas. Both roots and sense of place are major themes in her body of work. Her first collection of poems, Different Ways to Pray, explored the theme of similarities and differences between cultures, which would become one of her lifelong areas of focus.



Her other books include poetry collections 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Red Suitcase, and Fuel; a collection of essays entitled Never in a Hurry; a young-adult novel called Habibi (the autobiographical story of an Arab-American teenager who moves to Jerusalem in the 1970s) and picture book Lullaby Raft, which is also the title of one of her two albums of music. (The other is called Rutabaga-Roo; both were limited-edition.)


Nye has edited many anthologies of poems, for audiences both young and old. One of the best-known is This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from around the World, which contains translated work by 129 poets from 68 different countries. Her most recent anthology is called Is This Forever, Or What?: Poems & Paintings from Texas."





SOME DAYS


By Naomi Shihab Nye


Your handwriting stands
like a small forest on the page
You could enter it anywhere

Your rooms look new to you
maybe you moved a lamp
stretched a swatch of white gauze
across a window

Single stick of incense
waiting

Remember when you wrote:
I devote myself to short sentences

Air answers
Breath remembers

A streak of light
signs the floor

You missed it

Do you know its name yet?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>







I thought I was alone as I walked around the yard today until I looked down and saw the tiny footprints of what looks like a Raccoon next to mine. A ghost friend!!

As I walked barefoot in the wet grass and squishy mud this morning, I heard the flowers, fruit and foliage laughing loudly, happily discussing last night's refreshing storm. The blueberries above seemed to laugh the loudest!

This is the front of a hardback journal I collaged late last night as I sat listening to a storm raging outside my little office. I never put my pictures together ahead of time. I just let them choose where they want to go and somehow, they always seem to blend.

A haiku I just composed for my beautiful, shy rose:

My shy yellow rose
Waited for a stormy night
To open her heart

Sometimes the entire world is wrong, like about thinking OUTSIDE the box. At times, it feels much safer to think the other way, as I've stated on this decoupaged, painted tin I made.

Wishing you a nice, rainy Spring Saturday to read, relax and create.

Don't worry, be happy. :-O

Blessings,

~*~Marion ~*~

PS: I just found this little poem typed on an old note card, tucked away in a book of poetry I was perusing. It wanted to be here today so I add it to this post:

A MIND POET

A mind poet
stays in the house.

The house is empty

and it has no walls.

The Poem

is seen from all sides,

everywhere
at once.

Gary Snyder

Flowers are Earth's Poetry

My first rose to bloom was this long-stemmed white John F. Kennedy rose. It was absolutley gorgeous. The day after it bloomed a huge windstorm came and blew it to pieces. (A magnificently strange storm with no thunder or lightning or rain---just clouds and wind---it was awesome!) Thankfully, I got a shot of it before it was gone. It's loaded with buds as are all of my other rose bushes now. Ray planted me 6 rose bushes in the back yard in a new rose bed. Two of them are the Knockout Roses and they're already bushy with lots of buds.

This is Nashville Buddha in his newly cleaned out flower bed/rock garden right beside my carport. It was full of Lemon Mint which is sprouting all over the yard so we pulled it up and planted Pansies. Later, I'll add more flowers for his viewing pleasure.

This is a wild Violet that Ray picked for me today across the street in the woods. It smells heavenly. He wanted to dig some up and plant them in the yard, but I wouldn't let him because they're so pretty along the edge of the woods.

One of my purple Iris's. They're very showy this year, in spite of the weeds in their bed. I really miss being able to spend hours pulling weeds and working in my flower beds. . . Ray's not too big on weeding and I used to find it relaxing. I can sit and do some of it, but not as much as I used to. Bummer.

And finally, Cody, heading for the woods across the street. I picked my first Strawberries today and they were sweeter than candy! I seem to have a great crop coming along. I might actually get some jam this year. Last year we ate them as soon as they were ripe! Same with the blueberries. I only got about 8 jars of Blueberry jam and Mary Mace got most of that. She loves my homemade jams and won't share them with anyone.

Blessings, Peace & Hugs,

~~Marion, wishing you flowers this Easter season.......

"If you pass by the color purple in a field and don't notice it, God gets real pissed off." ~Alice Walker, 'The Color Purple'

"When bright flowers bloom

Parchment crumbles, my words fade

The pen has dropped ..." ~Morpheus

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud

was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~ Anais Nin