What Changes - Naomi Shihab Nye

[Larry Robinson]


What Changes


My father’s hopes travel with me

years after he died. Someday

we will learn how to live. All of us

surviving without violence

never stop dreaming how to cure it.

What changes? Crossing a small street

in Doha Souk, nut shops shuttered,

a handkerchief lies crumpled in the street,

maroon and white, like one my father had,

from Jordan. Perfectly placed

in his pocket under his smile, for years.

He would have given it to anyone.

How do we continue all these days?

	- Naomi Shihab Nye