Devoted to Growing: Naomi Shihab Nye

Thursday, April 4, 2019
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Burlington, Vermont
by Naomi Shihab Nye

In the lovely free public library
only library I ever met
that loans out garden tools
as well as books
rakes & long-handled clippers
from large buckets by the counter
I sat in a peaceful room
with citizens I will never know
reading about far-away war
war I am paying for
war I don't want & never wanted
& put my head down
on the smooth wooden table
wishing to weep loudly or quietly
it did not matter
in the purifying presence of
women & men
shovels & hoes
devoted to growing


Naomi Shihab Nye from Transfer. © BOA Editions, 2011