Naomi Shihab Nye: Different Ways to Pray
There were the men who had been shepherds so long
they walked like sheep.
Under the olive trees, they raised their arms—
Hear us! We have pain on earth!
Lisa Suhair Majaj: For the Dead Among Us
We will keep you alive
in our longing, in our breath.
Yahya Frederickson: Green
On the verge of June, a man
promenades a metal cart
piled with ‘aujah, the name
for almonds before they
are almonds.
Video: Faraway
The film follows the passing of seasons in the life of Omar Al Shakra, a young Arab man living in Montreal, after he’s cast aside by his family’s older generation following a difficult conversation about his homosexuality.
Naomi Shihab Nye: Blood
Homeless fig, this tragedy with a terrible root
is too big for us. What flag can we wave?
I wave the flag of stone and seed,
table mat stitched in blue.
Naomi Shihab Nye: Blood
“A true Arab knows how to catch a fly in his hands,” my father would say. And he’d prove it, cupping the buzzer instantly while the host with the swatter … Continue reading
