Meeting Naomi Shihab Nye

I met Naomi Shihab Nye, a fervent Stafford devotee, at an Earlham College convocation yesterday. I wrote this after meeting her.

Naomi Shihab Nye has stricken the word "busy" from her vocabulary. "It doesn't help us do anything. It's just a word we use when we're doing everything else." Her kind host is speaking words of hurry, things to do at her. "Five minutes." And then, "other people are waiting." "It's time to go." Naomi's face says "busy" although she does not. The book signing line is dwindling, but not complete. "Tell them I will be five minutes late." I am at the front of the line, waiting, still, while the poet explains that she is busy. She reaches for my book of her poetry I bought over ten years ago, and signing it says, "It looks like I misspelled 'gratitude,'" and "Oh, I am so happy to see you have that." I am holding my well worn book from her favorite poet and mine, William Stafford. "I have a request," I say. "This is a paper I wrote. Would you like to read it?" I hand her my essay on Stafford. "I'm excited to read it, and she folds it, slips it into her coat. "Thank you." We shake hands. As I head for the door she is already talking to someone else. I am too busy to go to the reception, still I take the time to write this down.