A beautiful poem came my way today and in these days of terrible stories of how refugees are being treated around the world, gives us all pause for thought. It is Red Brocade by Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952. I have shown others of her poems here and have loved each one of hers that I have read. Thanks, P.
The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.
We took Cornish Cream Tea to our German family who are staying in Porthtowan this afternoon. It was the first time the children had had such a treat and they loved it – splits, homemade Strawberry Freezer jam and Cornish clotted cream!
Split with jam and cream
This delightful sign was on the beach today. Thanks, S, for the photo.
LiveWire No 4 came home with us for tea and bedtime to give her Mum a break. Before tea, she helped me with the deadheading, loving to collect all the colours together. She then started to add their colours to her drawing and we were all delighted with the resultant colours.
Painting with flower petals
anotherday2paradise
June 29, 2018 at 9:02 am
Beautiful post, Sally. Hubby and I enjoyed a delicious cream tea on our recent visit to Cornwall. Unfortunately, we were there a week before the warmer weather arrived.
mybeautfulthings
June 29, 2018 at 2:03 pm
What a shame about the weather. We are having the longest spell of good weather since we returned home 10 years ago. Glad you enjoyed a cream tea! 🙂
anotherday2paradise
June 29, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Thanks so much. We obviously chose the wrong week. 😅
saymber
June 29, 2018 at 12:16 am
The poem is a reminder that there are no strangers, just friends we haven’t met yet. A lesson my husband and I learned best from our beloved cocker spaniel Sammy. The adding of flowers to the drawings is a great idea – educational too 🙂
Arkenaten
June 28, 2018 at 8:38 pm
The poem about Arabian hospitality – three days -is interesting and Terry Pratchett uses a similar theme in his book, Jingo, although the character Ahmed insists his prisoners are guests but they must stay in the camp for ”Tree dace!”
🙂