Before you know what kindness really is
\nyou must lose things,
\nfeel the future dissolve in a moment
\nlike salt in a weakened broth.
\nWhat you held in your hand,
\nwhat you counted and carefully saved,
\nall this must go so you know
\nhow desolate the landscape can be
\nbetween the regions of kindness.
\nHow you ride and ride
\nthinking the bus will never stop,
\nthe passengers eating maize and chicken
\nwill stare out the window forever.<\/p>\n
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
\nyou must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
\nlies dead by the side of the road.
\nYou must see how this could be you,
\nhow he too was someone
\nwho journeyed through the night with plans
\nand the simple breath that kept him alive.<\/p>\n
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
\nyou must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
\nYou must wake up with sorrow.
\nYou must speak to it till your voice
\ncatches the thread of all sorrows
\nand you see the size of the cloth.<\/p>\n
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
\nonly kindness that ties your shoes
\nand sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
\nonly kindness that raises its head
\nfrom the crowd of the world to say
\nIt is I you have been looking for,
\nand then goes with you everywhere
\nlike a shadow or a friend.<\/p>\n
post script: In another sister school \u00a0Loyola High School on 5 Mile in Detroit, Ann Riley has mentored these boys for many years and sent this picture. \u00a0(N.b., \u00a0\u201cOur guys\u201d would be the boys carrying this homeless man to his funeral. \u00a0Posting the picture on Facebook gave him a name and that re-connected him with his daughter. \u00a0Her post makes a footnote to Naomi Shihab Nye\u2019s wise poem, \u201cKindness.\u201d)<\/p>\n Ann Riley explained in her post. \u00a0\u201cSix of our guys volunteered to be pall bearers for a homeless man that St. Clare of Montefalco held a funeral service for.\u00a0 We posted a picture of our guys on Loyola\u2019s Facebook, and this is one of the responses we got.\u201d<\/p>\n Marlita N. Chapman<\/strong>\u00a0I am the Daughter of Henry Stanton\u2026. and because of this Picture being posted on Social Media & by Patrick Harbin Jr my family was able to discover the loss of our loved one, who had been missing for quite some time\u2026. on behalf of my brothers, myself and the rest of my family. We would like to say \u201cThank you\u201d and extend our deepest gratitude to the young men of Loyola High School\u2026who served as pallbearers, to St. Clare of Montefalco Parish and to Verheyden Funeral Home for providing a proper Burial Service. Although we are deeply devastated to discover the loss of our father this way\u2026 it gives us a little peace knowing he was laid to rest. Henry Stanton is loved by his family and will be truly, truly missed. Please keep us in your prayers and thank you again to all who participated in his funeral services our hearts ache finding out a day too late.\u00a0\u00a0Daddy! Take care of Mom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday, May 18 \u201cBefore you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.\u201d Last year in early March, a\u00a0friend emailed me some lines from Naomi Shihab Nye\u2019s poem \u201cKindness.\u201d \u00a0She connects kinship … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2017\/03\/Naomi-Shihab-Nye.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nNaomi Shihab Nye
\nb. March 12, 1952<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n