The Rider

Naomi Shihab Nye

A boy told me

if he roller-skated fast enough

his loneliness couldn’t catch up to him,

the best reason I ever heard

for trying to be a champion.

What I wonder tonight

pedaling hard down King William Street

is if it translates to bicycles.

A victory! To leave your loneliness

panting behind you on some street corner

while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas,

pink petals that have never felt loneliness,

no matter how slowly they fell.

Alive by Naomi Shihab Nye
Dear Abby, wrote someone from Oregon

Arabic by Naomi Shihab Nye
The man with laughing eyes stopped smiling

Blood by Naomi Shihab Nye

Burning the Old Year by Naomi Shihab Nye
Letters swallow themselves in seconds

Daily by Naomi Shihab Nye
These shriveled seeds we plant

Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye
The river is famous to the fish

Fuel by Naomi Shihab Nye
Even at this late date, sometimes I have to look up

Gate A-4 by Naomi Shihab Nye
Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning

Haunted by Naomi Shihab Nye
We are looking for your laugh.

How Palestinians Keep Warm by Naomi Shihab Nye
Choose one word and say it over

Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
Before you know what kindness really is

Lying While Birdwatching by Naomi Shihab Nye

Making a Fist by Naomi Shihab Nye
For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,

Many Asked Me Not to Forget Them by Naomi Shihab Nye
Where do you keep all these people?

Negotiations with a Volcano by Naomi Shihab Nye
We will call you "Agua" like the rivers and cool jugs

San Antonio by Naomi Shihab Nye
Tonight I lingered over your name,

Shoulders by Naomi Shihab Nye
A man crosses the street in rain

Snow by Naomi Shihab Nye
Once with my scarf knotted over my mouth

Streets by Naomi Shihab Nye
A man leaves the world

The Man Whose Voice Has Been Taken From His Throat by Naomi Shihab Nye
remains all supple hands and gesture

The Traveling Onion by Naomi Shihab Nye
When I think how far the onion has traveled

The Words Under the Words by Naomi Shihab Nye
My grandmother’s hands recognize grapes

Two Countries by Naomi Shihab Nye
Skin remembers how long the years grow

Wedding Cake by Naomi Shihab Nye
Once on a plane