The Spark that Links Us

An idea, when lighted, often glows to illuminate other ideas.
~Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel

For Wellness Wednesday, a few words from Naomi Shihab Nye. I am not somebody who is a really thorough fan, like one who reads everything a particular author writes or listens to everything by a particular musician, but I do have some people I fangirl over. For instance, I think I have posted more times about Shakespeare and Bach than I have about anybody else. Mary Oliver consistently makes me give a happy sigh. And so does Naomi Shihab Nye.

Naomi Shihab Nye by Micahd

I'm going to share bits from Nye's introduction to Salting the Ocean today:

In the midst of public jabber, high-velocity advertising, and shameless television, where is one true word? Where are three? Who will pause long enough to describe something truly, and clearly? Where is the burn of speech, the sweet rub of language, the spark that links us?

Poetry, poetry!

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"How should we use poetry?" people sometimes ask me. Read it! Share it with one another! Find poems that make you resonate. Different poems will do this for every person. We "use poetry" to restore us to feeling, revitalize our own speech, awaken empathy.

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Put a poem on the board and don't even discuss it -- let it permeate the atmosphere on its own.

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Do we explain music every time we listen to it? Mystery remains part of many poems, as well it should, since it remains part of our lives no matter who or where we are.

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I can promise you one thing: whatever you do in your life, whatever path you follow, if you are a person who feels comfortable writing your own words down, you will have an easier, better time of everything.

~Naomi Shihab Nye