I Want To Be Famous In The Way

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.  Naomi Shihab Nye What about me? I want to be famous to the child I helped up when he wrecked his bike.  I want to be famous to the older woman that couldn't reach the last pack of toilet paper in the grocery store.  I want to be famous in a way a bookmark is famous, because it always knows where it belongs. I want to be where I belong to provide support, kindness, and love.