Monday, May 25, 2009
Shoulders, by Naomi Shihab Nye
Robert Schumann - Romance, Op. 28, No. 2, with Arthur Rubinstein
A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is sleeping on his shoulder.
No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.
This man carries the world's most sensitive cargo
but he's not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.
His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy's dream
deep inside him.
We're not going to be able
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
from Reflections, Spring 2009, Yale Divinity School
poem from Reflections (published by Yale Divinity School), Spring 2009, vol. 96, no. 1, page 49
ReplyDeleteAnother beautiful piece of music! (I'm only commenting on the music, as you can see:) I'm terrible at commenting about poetry.
ReplyDeleteNancy, just knowing that you are touched by something, anything, here is enough - thank you!
ReplyDeleteLovely music to accompany this beautiful poem. It really touched me - as a parent, I've so often felt these emotions!
ReplyDeletethank you, Carmen, I am glad to know this touched you. i think all of us can related to these emotions - this is part of what makes poetry and music so powerful to me, the way they forge invisible but so strong threads among us
ReplyDelete