Famous
The river is famous to the fish.
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.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
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.
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.
Notes
Where Raymond Carver’s Late Fragment pared human longing down to the quiet, final whisper of feeling beloved, Naomi Shihab Nye’s Famous radically redefines significance away from public acclaim toward the intimate, dependable architecture of daily life. Tracing fame through the eyes of a fish in a river, a tear on a cheek, or the quiet fidelity of a buttonhole and pulley strips away the hollow vanity of modern recognition, proving that true purpose lies not in grand spectacles, but in remaining steadfastly faithful to what we can offer the ordinary world around us. It anchors August’s theme of Feast in the humble, nourishing sufficiency of quiet presence, reminding us that the richest life is not measured by applause, but by the quiet grace of smiling back and never forgetting what we are here to do. #poetry #naomishihabnye #feast #august #famous
Naomi Shihab Nye, "Famous" from Words Under the Words: Selected Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye, copyright © 1995.