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Here we are, at the end of April with our universal greeting, I hope you are well.
I'm finishing off Poetry Month as I began, #Sheltering in Poems. Ramadan begins for Muslim friends today. And, another large part of the world celebrates faith and family without being able to physically touch each other. I was looking for a shelter poem as Christians and Jews have gone through the same this month.
Different
Ways to Pray
There was the method of kneeling,
a fine method, if you lived in a country
where stones were smooth.
The women dreamed wistfully of bleached courtyards,
hidden corners where knee fit rock.
Their prayers were weathered rib bones,
small calcium words uttered in sequence,
as if this shedding of syllables could somehow
fuse them to the sky.
a fine method, if you lived in a country
where stones were smooth.
The women dreamed wistfully of bleached courtyards,
hidden corners where knee fit rock.
Their prayers were weathered rib bones,
small calcium words uttered in sequence,
as if this shedding of syllables could somehow
fuse them to the sky.
There were the men who had been shepherds
so long
they walked like sheep.
Under the olive trees, they raised their arms—
Hear us! We have pain on earth!
We have so much pain there is no place to store it!
But the olives bobbed peacefully
in fragrant buckets of vinegar and thyme.
At night the men ate heartily, flat bread and white cheese,
and were happy in spite of the pain,
because there was also happiness.
they walked like sheep.
Under the olive trees, they raised their arms—
Hear us! We have pain on earth!
We have so much pain there is no place to store it!
But the olives bobbed peacefully
in fragrant buckets of vinegar and thyme.
At night the men ate heartily, flat bread and white cheese,
and were happy in spite of the pain,
because there was also happiness.
What a perfect poem for the times, Linda. I must cofness that I like the sound of Fowzi:, who 'spoke with God as he spoke with goats' . There's some wisdom there.
ReplyDeleteI love your found haiku too.
I wrote about shelter today, too, Linda. I wonder how many times people are looking for a kind of shelter. Love that you chose nearly the same words I loved from Nye's poem. She's always so wise, isn't she? It's "They prayed for Allah to mend their brains". No matter the prayer to whom, always the old ones worry over the young! Thank you for this and have a nice weekend!
ReplyDeleteI love that poem by Naomi Shihab Nye. I have been struggling over the humongous suffering in the world and the brevity of silver linings. It is good to be reminded of happiness and laughter in those who know pain. Your haiku captures that!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your found poem. I haven’t tried this yet but am excited to try it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this prayerful post -- an appreciated moment of reflection, reminding us that pain and happiness are two sides of the same coin.
ReplyDeleteSo much universality in both NSN's poem and your found poem - both are comforting. Thank you. :)
ReplyDeleteNaomi Shihab Nye is ALWAYS a good choice to shelter with! I love the haiku you unearthed in the process. Take care, Linda.
ReplyDeleteLovely haiku, Linda! I was in need of both of these prayer poems. Thank you, Linda!
ReplyDeleteNaomi Shihab Nye offers such good poems to shelter in. This one speaks especially to the difficulty people from many faiths have experienced. I do like Fowzi who speaks to God as he speaks to goats. I suspect God might like that. I enjoyed your found poem too.
ReplyDeleteOh the details in Naomi Shihab Nye's poem--exquisite. And the contrast between the men and women's pilgrimages--but of course. And I enjoyed your haiku with its Ramadan-starting crescent moon!
ReplyDeleteAh, Naomi Shihab Nye. Only she would end with Fowzi. These lines offer comfort: "At night the men ate heartily, flat bread and white cheese,
ReplyDeleteand were happy in spite of the pain,
because there was also happiness." Your found haiku offers shelter as well. Thank you, Linda.
Different Ways to Pray is a beautiful poem to shelter-in. Naomi always knows how to bring poignancy to a poem. Your poem took hers and made it your own, Linda. "Bend to kiss the earth" is a beautiful line. On Earth Day, I found a quote from Rumi for my post. I think you will like it: "There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth."
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the implicit appreciation for all the ways to pray, even when all the people in the poem don't share it. Acceptance is a form of #shelter, isn't it? Maybe the only form. Love your distillation in haiku form.
ReplyDeleteLinda: So much to like about this post. The Naomi Nye poem is new to me. I appreciate all the sensory input, so evocative. I love your haiku. Yes, we are all in this together... apart. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI love Naomi's poem. Thank you for sharing it here. Your poem touched my heart in so many ways, especially the line "old ones prayed for the young ones". I worry about how our children are coping. Your poem offers peace and hope.
ReplyDeleteThis is an NSN poem I haven't read before. I love it. Thank you! (I love your found haiku, too.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing me to this poem! I love Naomi Shihab Nye. Like all her poems, this one is so rich. I love the notion that "for certain cousins and grandmothers/the pilgrimage occurred daily." I think if we all viewed daily life as a form of prayer, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in. You've done a wonderful job capturing the essence of the poem in your haiku.
ReplyDelete