Kindness
By Naomi Shihab Nye, a Palestinian poet
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day
to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that 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.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
An email response to Cecelia
On Sep 11, 2007, at 1:02 PM, Cecelia Ariaz wrote:
Subject: Fw: Sentence of Reid
Sentence of Reid
Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?
Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?
Didn't think so.
Yes, dear, I have read the judge's comments. Did not hear it on teevee because I gave that up six years ago. Too much junk, too much propaganda, too many jerks and liars, too much noise. I have my apartment radio tuned to one station. It is KALW in San Francisco. Listener supported. They subscribe to NPR and the BBC for their news programs.
I take the time to scan the online edition of the SF Chronicle and the NY Times. I read many politically oriented web pages and communicate with many people by email. I read many books, a few popular and not so popular magazines. I have recently attended two peace vigils sponsored by MoveOn in San Francisco. I take pictures and share them on the internet. Sometimes the overload button lights up on my 82 year old head.
I am an American citizen and have not missed voting since my first time in 1945. I am sick and tired of the miserable flag waving so-called patriots and fundamentalists who voted for the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States. The administration wants to keep the people of this country living with fear of OTHERS. That is not a healthy condition nor does it promote peace in the world.
It was right of the judge to sentence the nut case with the shoe bomb into a long term stay in jail. I wish that someone had the guts to do the same with bush/cheney and company. Those two are just the tip of the iceberg.
Get out there and do something to bring back the hard won civil rights to our country that have been removed by those in our country who terrorize and bomb people in other countries. They claim it is for our freedom. That's the biggest lie of all.
Sonnie
Subject: Fw: Sentence of Reid
Sentence of Reid
Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?
Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?
Didn't think so.
Yes, dear, I have read the judge's comments. Did not hear it on teevee because I gave that up six years ago. Too much junk, too much propaganda, too many jerks and liars, too much noise. I have my apartment radio tuned to one station. It is KALW in San Francisco. Listener supported. They subscribe to NPR and the BBC for their news programs.
I take the time to scan the online edition of the SF Chronicle and the NY Times. I read many politically oriented web pages and communicate with many people by email. I read many books, a few popular and not so popular magazines. I have recently attended two peace vigils sponsored by MoveOn in San Francisco. I take pictures and share them on the internet. Sometimes the overload button lights up on my 82 year old head.
I am an American citizen and have not missed voting since my first time in 1945. I am sick and tired of the miserable flag waving so-called patriots and fundamentalists who voted for the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States. The administration wants to keep the people of this country living with fear of OTHERS. That is not a healthy condition nor does it promote peace in the world.
It was right of the judge to sentence the nut case with the shoe bomb into a long term stay in jail. I wish that someone had the guts to do the same with bush/cheney and company. Those two are just the tip of the iceberg.
Get out there and do something to bring back the hard won civil rights to our country that have been removed by those in our country who terrorize and bomb people in other countries. They claim it is for our freedom. That's the biggest lie of all.
Sonnie
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