"Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future
dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth." Thus begins Naomi Shihab
Nye's poem Kindness, animated poignantly by Ana Perez Lopez for the On Being
Project. The poem, first published in 1980 and read softly here by the poet,
contrasts strikingly with the typographical approach to the animation done
during the pandemic lockdown of 2020.
"Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as
the other deepest thing." Nye's words have relevance for us now as we not only
negotiate great losses but reemerge to a new normal, with Kindness, for "only
Kindness makes sense anymore".
