I have selected this poem as a blog post because it speaks to what we all need to consider when it comes to the “best interests of the child” but also because of the message at the end of the poem. Maybe we all need to think about taking better care of each other, despite all the difficulities involved in that.
Shouldersby Naomi Shihab Nye
A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.
No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.
This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.
His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.
We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
“Shoulders” by Naomi Shihab Nye, from Red Suitcase. © BOA Editions, Ltd., 1994.
Reprinted with permission from BOA Editions, Ltd.
