Naomi Shihab Nye
Naomi is a poet, and Young People’s Poet Laureate
Naomi and I spoke for the podcast in 2020. Below is an edited version of our conversation. You can listen to the full episode here.
Can you describe who you are beyond what you do; how you move through the world?
I think I always saw myself as an observer; always felt my job is to be a witness. You know, I’m not a full Arab, I’m not a full American, I always felt like I was a little bit on the sidelines but I was in a spot where I had a good view, and I could see what others did. I could watch, and could observe and put pieces together that made sense to me. I liked that kind of position, too. I’ve often felt my role in life was to an observer, an appreciator. When people say “what job would have had if you weren’t a poet?” I might say, a cook, but I also really like connecting people! So maybe a fan girl agent, for other people. What could be better than introducing people that need to know one another?
There are so many quiet offerings all around us. I’d love to hear more about what you think of the tiny miracles in the everyday.
It is how we find meaning and it costs nothing and we’re all in it, all the time. But we are so distractible. We wake up with our to-do lists imprinted on our brains, and a lot of times we don’t give ourselves to that quiet time or what might be offered to us. I used to get in trouble as a kid for daydreaming, but I always felt that it was deeper. That feeling of being transported by the miracle we are living inside of every moment and we often don’t even think of it.
These are a few of my favorite things…
Book: THE WAY IT IS, by William Stafford
Album and/or Song: ON THE NICKEL, by Tom Waits
Poem: At this very moment, Amanda Gorman's poem THE HILL WE CLIMB!!!! what a vote for us all! A vote for Voice and poetry and the power of words! It's fine & healthy for favorite poems to change regularly. Another day I might have said, any poem at all by William Stafford or W.S Merwin or Lucille Clifton or....a million other people!
Place: Scotland, or my backyard. Even my front yard. With a shovel and a clippers in hand.