All Things Not Considered
By Naomi Shihab Nye

You cannot stitch the breath
back into this boy.

A brother and sister were playing with toys
when their room exploded.

In what language
is this holy?

The Jewish boys killed in the cave
were skipping school, having an adventure.

Asel Asleh, Palestinian, age 17, believed in the field
beyond right and wrong where people came together

to talk. He kneeled to help someone else
stand up before he was shot.

If this is holy,
could we have some new religions please?

Mohammed al-Durra huddled against his father
in the street, terrified. The whole world saw him die.

An Arab father on crutches burying his 4 month girl weeps,
“I spit in the face of this ugly world.”

*

Most of us would take our children over land.
We would walk in the fields forever homeless
with our children,
huddle under cliffs, eat crumbs and berries,
to keep our children.
This is what we say from a distance
because we can say whatever we want.

*

No one was right.
Everyone was wrong.
What if they’d get together
and say that?
At a certain point
the flawed narrator wins.

People made mistakes for decades.
Everyone hurt in similar ways
at different times.
Some picked up guns because guns were given.
If they were holy it was okay to use guns.
Some picked up stones because they had them.
They had millions of them.
They might have picked up turnip roots
or olive pits.
Picking up things to throw and shoot:
at the same time people were studying history,
going to school.

*

The curl of a baby’s graceful ear.

The calm of a bucket
waiting for water.

Orchards of the old Arab men
who knew each tree.

Jewish and Arab women
standing silently together.

Generations of black.

Are people the only holy land?

First Explication and notes

When I first read “All Things Not Considered”, one verse stood out from the rest. I find it addresses the issue of viewing conflicts from both sides very well and more to explores the flaws of religion. The poem starts out by asking “In what language is this holy?” after describing the death of innocent children when it presents the image of children playing and having their room blown up.. How each person interprets religion or the words of a holy script can lead to argument and conflict. Eventually, religions get so caught up in the conflict they forget what the point of their religion is. Death seems natural. A martyr, someone who dies in the name of God, is holy in many religions, but when is death ever holy? Naomi Shihab Nye is questioning when death ever became the norm, or the right thing to do. My favorite line is “if this is holy, can we have some new religions please?” I agree with this point. We, as humans, have found a way to turn our faith and religion into war and hatred. We must find a way to relate to each other in faithful and not violent ways. The religions indirectly teach and reference violence and why would this happen?.

Main theme

• Violence
• Death of innocent people and children
• Inhumanity 
• The religions
• Sacrifice