Next Time Ask More Questions by Naomi Shihab Nye

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 9, 2015   Next Time Ask More Questions   Naomi Shihab Nye

Before jumping, remember the span of time is long and gracious.   No one perches dangerously on any cliff till you reply. Is there a pouch of rain   desperately thirsty people wait to drink from when you say yes or no? I don’t think so.   Hold that thought. Hold everything. When they say “crucial”—well, maybe for them?   Hold your horses and your minutes and your Hong Kong dollar coins in your pocket,   you are not a corner or a critical turning page. Wait. I’ll think about it.   This pressure you share is a misplaced hinge, a fantasy. I am exactly where I wanted to be.            Copyright © 2015 by Naomi Shihab Nye. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “We all find ourselves involved in projects or activities that confound us—when or why did I say I would do this? What was I thinking? I needed a poem for myself that said—pause longer. Think again.” —Naomi Shihab Nye   Naomi Shihab Nye is the author of Transfer (BOA Editions, 2011). She is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and lives in San Antonio, Texas.   Photo credit: Ha Lam Most Recent Book by Nye   Transfer (BOA Editions, 2011) "In Betweenness" by Pierre Joris "Current" by Alan Soldofsky "Manifest Destiny" by Cynthia Lowen Read This Poem   For National Poetry Month, we’ve teamed up with 826 National to produce Read This Poem, a celebration of poets in cities with 826 chapters. Read this week's featured poems by poets from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038