"world's most sensitive cargo"
embody the present tense
May you remember being carried in arms, swaddled with care.
You, a tiny precious newborn!
Female figure holding infant, 664–332 B.C., clay
Shoulders
by 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.
from Red Suitcase by Naomi Shihab Nye. BOA Editions, Ltd., 1994
Creative Invitation
Embody the present tense. Walk outside today until you see something you want to describe: something that moves you, strikes you, strums a cord in your chest. Describe it, as if telling someone who has loved you for a long time. Use only the present tense. Amplify the power of the now. Supercharge it with color and sensations. Embody the present tense. Present, with an untensed body.