Words I Wish Were Mine

Famous

By Naomi Shihab Nye

The River is famous to the fish

(the river is it's home, it's safety, it's danger, it's world.)

The loud voice is famous to silence,

which knew it would inherit the earth 

before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds 

watching him from the birdhouse.

(That cat could change a birds world for good or bad. Watch out.)

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom 

is famous to your bosom.

(your idea.. it's all yours.)

The boot is famous to the earth,

more famous than the dress shoe.

which is famous only to floors.

(This is golden! I love this for so many reasons I can't explain)

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it 

and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

(You could mean the world to someone, and not even know. Or someone could mean the world to you, and they don't even care. but you hold onto that moment, memory, in the form of a picture.. past lovers.. past friends.. past family..)

I want to be famous to shuffling men

who smile while crossing streets,

sticky children in grocery lines, 

famous as the one who smiled back.

(Wait for an old man to cross the street, and smile! Smile to a kid in line! Smile to people as you walk by!)

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous.

or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,

but because it never forgot what it could do.

(some of the most important, and impactful things to do are the small simple things! Like smiling! I want to remember this! I want to live this!)