Different Ways to Pray

“Different Ways to Pray” is by Naomi Shihab Nye—a decorated Palestinian American poet who has been publishing poems for over 40 years. Nye, who has received awards from the International Poetry Forum and the Texas Institute of Letters, writes about culture, identity, and how humanity can find peace and commonality despite its cultural differences. Her poem “Different Ways to Pray” is in direct conversation with many of these themes. Written in a list-like form, Nye’s speaker describes several ways to pray, from kneeling and whispering scripture to traveling to Mecca to speaking to animals. As a world traveler who has written multiple collections of poetry about Middle Eastern heritage, Nye’s “Different Ways to Pray” explores themes of ritual, prayer, understanding, and tolerance.

Published in 1980 in her first full-length collection of the same title, “Different Ways to Pray” is part of Nye’s early poetic works; however, its content speaks to her poetic oeuvre. Nye, who advocates for the voices of Arab Americans—particularly after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks—believes in humanity’s inherent goodness. She often speaks about how all of humanity can live in peace, despite societal and religious disparities. “Different Ways to Pray” directly reflects these beliefs.

Poet Biography

Naomi Shihab Nye (1952) was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Nye’s father was a Palestinian refugee and, growing up, Nye divided her time between Palestine and San Antonio, Texas. She earned her BA from Trinity University in San Antonio where she studied English and world religions. As a Palestinian American, Nye is interested in the voice of Arab Americans as well as all cultures around the world. An extensive traveler, Nye has visited Europe, Asia, Mexico, and the Middle East, among other nations and continents. Nye believes in using art and poetry “to attest to our shared humanity” (“Naomi Shihab Nye.” The University of Arizona Poetry Center.).

The author of several poetry collections, Nye’s first full-length collection, Different Ways to Pray, was published in 1980. Preceding this were two shorter length chapbooks (Tattooed Feet [1977] and Eye-to-Eye [1978]), which established Nye as a poet interested in cultural exchange. Nye is often called the “wandering poet” (“Naomi Shihab Nye.” The Poetry Foundation.) because of her interest in cultural awareness, differences and connections between cultures, and diversity—all of which serve as predominant poetic themes in her work. Following her first collection, Nye released several more books: On the Edge of the Sky (1981), Hugging the Jukebox (1982), and Yellow Glove (1986), which won the Voertman Poetry Prize.

Her poems have been honored and lauded. Nye received the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Robert Creeley Prize, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and her poems have received several Pushcart prizes, and other awards and accolades. Most notably, Nye served five years (2010-15) as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and from 2019-21 she served as the Poetry Foundation’s Young People’s Poet Laureate.

Following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Nye gave voice to Arab Americans through her poetry. These poems center on themes of peace and heritage, and they work to bridge two cultures at odds. She published her experiences as an Arab American in her collection 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (2002). Nye believes in world peace and uses poetry and other forms of writing—including essay collections and books of poetry and fiction for children—to promote international love and compassion through art.

A decorated poet, Nye’s most recent collection, Cast Away: Poems for Our Time (2020), explores the things that humans cast away: plastic bottles, trash, and more. The collection explores the environmental implications of trash, addressing themes of politics, consumerism, responsibility, and the planet. An avid writer and publisher of poetry, Nye does not shy from complicated, controversial topics. In 2020, Nye was awarded the prestigious Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement, which was given out by the National Book Critics Circle. She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas and is a professor of creative writing at Texas State University.

Poem Text

Nye, Naomi Shihab. “Different Ways to Pray.” 1995. The Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“Different Ways to Pray” explores various forms of prayer. The poem opens in the past tense describing one form of prayer as “the method of kneeling” (Line 1). Illustrating kneeling prayer, Nye’s speaker notes how it requires smooth stones (Line 3) and that the prayers were so fervently spoken that those who prayed believed “the syllables could somehow / fuse them to the sky” (Lines 8-9). The second stanza describes shepherds who have walked a long time behind sheep and who feel pain, so much so that they call out, “Hear us! We have pain on earth!” (Line 13) as a form of prayer.

The third stanza explores the religious faithful who pilgrimage to Mecca. While the following stanza defines pilgrimage in an unusual way—"lugging water from the spring” (Line 30) which is the pilgrimage of arduous work daily executed by “cousins and grandmothers” (Line 28). Prayer takes many forms, and these women, in the form of prayer, take care of the children and assist in births.

The poem concludes with two stanzas that explore “those who [don’t] care about praying” (Line 36) and those who don’t pray in the traditional way. Nye’s poem comments on those who have emigrated to America from the Middle East and who have lost their faith in prayer followed by an account of “old man Fowzi” (Line 45) who speaks “with God as he spoke with goats” (Line 47), indicating yet another way of communicating with higher spiritual powers.