Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend
“Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Naomi Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was a Palestinian refugee and her mother was an American of German and Swiss descent. She spent her teen years in Jerusalem and San Antonio Texas. She has received many honors and awards for her work, including the Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Robert Creeley Prize, among others.
Just like her father, I too believe that there is a solution to the conflict in the Middle East. Arab people and Jewish people are brothers and sisters.
While I was looking for a poem about Israel and Palestine, still trying to wrap my head around the news, the war, the conflict, and the attacks, while I was sorting my feelings, I found “Kindness” and it gave me peace.
Reminds me of the quote I saw this week… “All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.” – Francois Fenelon, But sadly brothers do fight and war happens. I too am struggling with how to deal with this. The hardest for me is how so many lost their lives listening to music… senseless. Thanks for sharing this poem,,, we need all the kindness we can get to spread everywhere until it reaches all parts of the world.
It’s not easy to read the news about the senseless attack, but as so often there are two sides to a story. In the end it’s always the women and children who suffer the most.
I am looking at the outrage over the attack and wish we all would show every week the same outrage when another senseless mass shooting happens here in the US. Am I unkind?
You are absolutely right, Much of the nation is numb to mass shootings and it is beyond sad. Even a shooting of 4 police this last week in Minnesota was hard to find news about on a local level… just another drug bust gone wrong. So disheartening. You are far from unkind, the exact opposite!
Bridget, you found the perfect reminder for us on this day of terrible news. It’s such a pity that those who should read it, and act accordingly, would never do so even if it smacked them on the nose!
There is not much good news lately, is there?
Oh my, I would like to smack a few on the nose. 🙂
You and me both!
A wonderful share! She is incredible. I had the great pleasure of hearing her read poetry, including this poem, and speak about her experiences at a poetry conference I taught at a few months ago, in Denver. What a beautiful and talented soul. 🙏🏻
What a special experience to meet her in person. Thank you for sharing this with me.
Yes, indeed! Great gratitude for the experience. It was at the National Association for Poetry Therapy annual conference. Thank you for giving me reason to share that special experience. 🙏🏻
We should be the bringers of hope. Thats what will save us.
Thanks for this. Xoxo
I found this poem so touching. How could I not share it. Being kind and never losing hope. That’s a tall order, but so desirable.
What an amazing person. It is hard to think of hope/kindness when we wake up daily and read of unthinkable things happening. We must wake up with hope. Reading about and listening to hopeful people/hopeful blogs helps us to do that.
Thanks!
I struggle with kindness myself. It’s so much easier to be unfriendly to the ones who are deserving of their own medicine. Yet, I have made it my task to even treat the ones with kindness who are unkind themselves. It’s so hard.
I understand that too well.