Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EST November 8th 2024

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Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye, posted below.

Our prompt was: “The idea I carry close to my bosom.”

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Please join us for our next session Friday November 15th at 12pm EST, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,   
which knew it would inherit the earth   
before anybody said so.   

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds   
watching him from the birdhouse.   

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.   

The idea you carry close to your bosom   
is famous to your bosom.   

The boot is famous to the earth,   
more famous than the dress shoe,   
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it   
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.   

I want to be famous to shuffling men   
who smile while crossing streets,   
sticky children in grocery lines,   
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,   
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,   
but because it never forgot what it could do.

Copyright Credit: Naomi  Shihab Nye
Source: Words Under the Words: Selected Poems (Far Corner Books, 1995)

10 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EST November 8th 2024”

  1. Jennifer Lee's avatar Jennifer Lee

    In the room famed for false gods, we mistake the shivering crackle of a soda can for an omen. There are no flowers to pick the petals off of, so I press my fingers to your wrist and let its racing pulse drive us to a decade your heart is fighting to remember. Store. Hummus. Pretzel chips. The third seat of the car is cold so we pretend the chill of November is all we have left to blame. Metal cuts up our lips and the blood of all those people trapped in beds starts to taste the same. Does it still hurt? We take our fizzy stevia optimism to the grave. 

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    • michele348's avatar michele348

      I pray we, as humankind, never become impervious to the plight of others. Some wish to push us in that direction, but we must always remain vigilant and stalwart in our actions. Thanks for sharing your words with us, Jennifer.

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  2. michele348's avatar michele348

    Ideas I hold close to my heart~~~

    Who am I?I pose this question to myself,as I stare up at the ceilingin the dark of night.

    Am I an empty cavern,unconcerned with the chaosof the world around me?

    I think not because tearsflow down my cheekswhen I see the faces of the innocentswho have been killed in senseless wars.

    Do you judge me as weak…shedding tears for those I do not know,lacking the backbonerequired to exist in today’s world?

    That is a questionI fear to hear your answer.

    It pains me to think of hate so prevalent,eating away at the very fiber of existence.Anger and derision flow off our tonguesmore often than the words “please” or “I am sorry.”

    Where has our basic sense of moralityand decency fled to?Have we lost the abilityto look upon the “other”as being “my brother or sister”rather than someone who is to be despised or belittled?

    I will hold these emotions close to my heart,for they keep me honest and accountablefor my actions.

    I yearn always to protect the spiritwithin me,which at timesstruggles to exist.

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  3. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    The Idea I Carry Close to My Bosom Is 

    That most people have good intentions

    And 

    Want the best for themselves and others

    Black and white are not the only two colors

    There are plenty of shades of gray

    Every story has two sides

    We have to have hope and

    Work together

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  4. al3793's avatar al3793

    The Idea I Carry Close to My Bosom

    finds its way to my soul,

    heart and mind

    it’s what defines me

    the principle that directs my day

    it is the inclination to look first

    and always to the Light and

    direct that Light toward others

    to see into their hearts

    to find our common humanity and

    live a life rich in Love

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