I picked up an advanced readers copy of Naomi Shihab Nye’s Voices in the Air when I was at the ALA Midwinter Conference in Denver. I’ve been reading it at school, during independent reading time. Lovely poems reflecting on a variety of artists, writers, poets, historical figures, and ordinary people.
I heard her speak a number of years ago at a conference. She was wonderfully dynamic and gave us advice I have tried to follow: write three lines everyday.
Imagine my delight when, Sunday night, I was listening to On Being on the radio and Naomi Shihab Nye was the guest. She read and talked about her poetry and her view of the world. Here are some of the bits I gleaned from the program.
- You are living in a poem.
- Very rarely do you hear anyone say they write things down and feel worse.
- Talking about poetry is also talking about how we move through the world.
- You have to write things down as they come to you.
- When you write things down, you find out what you notice.
- You listen to yourself when you go back and look at what you wrote.
- Consider reading your children awake when they get older.
If you read nothing else today, read Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “Kindness”.
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