The Art of Disappearing

“Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye (1995)

Like “The Art of Disappearing,” “Famous” prizes anonymity in a very playful way. The connotation of “fame” is that a person will be important to large crowds, but in “Famous” Shihab Nye writes about the many ways that people can be famous to individual people in small, seemingly unimportant ways. She also personifies non-human entities, saying, “The river is famous to the fish” (Line 1), and “The loud voice is famous to silence” (Line 2). She ends by saying she wants to be famous to “sticky children in grocery lines” (Line 17).

“Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye (1995)

This is arguably Shihab Nye’s most famous poem. Unlike in “The Art of Disappearing,” she writes here about the necessity to think about others and realize how much people have in common. As if writing directly to readers (and while seemingly experiencing solitude), she implores kindness.

“Gate A-22” by Naomi Shihab Nye (2008)

Shihab Nye uses this prose poem to tell a story about a time when she, presumably the speaker of the poem, responded to a call to help communicate with someone distressed at an airport. A woman dresses in traditional Palestinian clothing was having trouble understanding that their flight was late, not cancelled.