A friend gave me Naomi Shihab Nye‘s wonderful 19 Varieties of Gazelle a month or so ago. I regularly use colored flags to mark paragraphs or pages of readings I like, in fiction, history or poetry. It is very unusual to have the ”like a lot” tag on every page, but that’s the situation with Nye. I posted “Visit” a while back, and today am very pleased by Red Brocade.
The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.
Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.
No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.
I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.
*
“Red Brocade”
by Naomi Shahab Nye
from 19 Varieties of Gazelle
