[Peace-discuss] Naomi Shihab Nye's poem for the buses?

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Won't people think, "Hmmm, T'he Arabs USED to say, etc'... and what are the Arabs saying NOW?"
   --Jenifer

"John W." <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:
  
Lovely poem. Would this be on the INSIDE or the OUTSIDE of the buses? I 
presume the inside, so that people would actually have time to read and 
reflect on it.

John Wason



At 02:47 PM 1/23/2008, Karen Medina wrote:

>Peace Discuss,
>
>A year or so ago, a group in Richmond Virginia put signs on the buses that 
>were in Arabic (with English translation) and at the bottom they said 
>"Misunderstanding can make anything scary".
>
>We would like to do something similar here in Champaign-Urbana. Instead of 
>the the messages Richmond saw ("I'm a little teapot", "Paper or plastic?", 
>and "Rock, paper, scissors") we would like to put up poetry.
>
>Below is a poem we are considering:
>
>[From the book "19 Varieties of Gazelle"]
>by Naomi Shihab Nye
>
>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.
>
>[We may just put up the first verse, but the poem does go on to say:]
>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.

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