“During the Gulf War, I remember two little third grade girls saying to me - after I read them some poems by writers in Iraq - 'You know, we never thought about there being children in Iraq before.' And I thought, 'Well those poems did their job, because now they'll think about everything a little bit differently.'” ThinkingKnowsWellsChildrenLittlesTwoWarJobsRememberGirlBitsLittle BitThirdsIraqGradesGulf WarThird Grade Author:Naomi Shihab Nye
“I keep thinking, we teach children to use language to solve their disputes. We teach them not to hit and fight and bite. Then look what adults do!” ThinkingLooksChildrenUseFightingLanguageTeachAdultsSolveBitesDisputes Author:Naomi Shihab Nye
“I think the job of writing and literature is to encourage each one of us to believe that we're living in a story.” ThinkingWritingBelieveStoriesJobsLiterature Author:Naomi Shihab Nye
“I can never see fashion models, lean angular cheeks, strutting hips and blooming hair, without thinking of the skulls at the catacombs in Lima, Peru.” ThinkingI CanFashionHairModelsHungerHipsCheeksSkullsBloomingPeruFashion ModelStrutting Book:Red Suitcase: Poems Source: Red Suitcase: Poems
“I Still Have Everything You Gave Me It is dusty on the edges. It is slightly rotten. I guard it without thinking. I focus on it once a year when I shake it out in the wind. I do not ache. I would not trade.” ThinkingYearsStillsFocusWindTradeEdgesShakesAcheRotten Book:Fuel: Poems Source: Fuel: Poems
“I'm writing mostly to thank you for living you eighty years and to tell you I love you and think of you often.” ThinkingWritingYearsLove YouEightyThink Of You Author:Naomi Shihab Nye
“Today you will say things you can predict and other things you could never imagine this minute. Don't reject them, let them come through when they're ready, don't think you can plan it al out. This day will never, no matter how long you live, happen again. It is exquisitely singular. It will never again be exactly repeated.” ThinkingLongMatterHappensTodayImaginePlansMinutesReadyRejectsThis DayAls Author:Naomi Shihab Nye
“We all find ourselves involved in projects or activities that confound us-when or why did I say I would do this? What was I thinking? I needed a poem for myself that said-pause longer. Think again.” ThinkingSaidNeededInvolvedActivityProjectsPauses Author:Naomi Shihab Nye