My dear friend, and inspirational poet, Naomi Shihab Nye spent the weekend in Chestertown as the Main Event of the 15th Annual Kent County Poetry Festival. Naomi describes herself as a “wandering poet” and I was so thrilled to have her wander back to the Eastern Shore with gratitude to the Kent Cultural Alliance. She has been to my school twice, and her time here this week was magical. Seeing our town and community through the lens of a masterful poet renewed my deep love for our uniquely rich and vibrant community on the Chester River.
Naomi’s father was a Palestinian refugee and her mother an American of German and Swiss descent, and she spent her adolescence in both Jerusalem and San Antonio, Texas, where she still resides. Her experience of both “cultural difference and different cultures” has influenced her work. Known for writing about ordinary events, people, and objects, Naomi has said for her, “the primary source of poetry has always been local life, random characters met on the streets, our own ancestry sifting down to us through small essential daily tasks.”
On Saturday evening Naomi held a Poetry Reading and Interview with Maureen Corrigan, Georgetown literary professor and NPR personality. The Garfield Center for the Arts was full of life and laughter as Naomi regaled us with stories of how poems blossomed from her varied life experiences. She could have read her poems all evening as we sat captivated by her every word. It was exactly the balm that we all needed in this complicated world in which we live – a balm only poems can provide.
Sunday morning I was her Uber driver to the airport. It was wonderful to have an hour of time alone with her in my car. We did not stop talking for a single second! And, although she did not read her poem Gate A4 on Saturday, I could not help thinking about it as I dropped her off. Gate A4 reminds us of our shared humanity. The poem describes an airport scene where Naomi helped a Palestinian woman, who spoke no English, through her knowledge of Arabic and her compassion. “This is the world I want to live in,” she wrote, “the shared world.”
My word for this academic year at Kent School is Kindness, and it is also one of my personal favorite poems by Naomi.
Only kindness 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.
Safe travels today, my friend. Hope to be with you again very soon in our shared world.
That's Another Story 