Naomi Shihab Nye – “Alive”

Hey everyone out there,

Alright, I know this poem of the week is a little delayed, but for those who missed the tweet I put out, I wasn’t feeling well when I usually write up that post, so I decided to delay it to today. Anyway, this poem comes from Naomi Shihab Nye, a poet who I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and hearing read from the book I have of hers: Transfer.

I feel like a few of the poems I’ve posted lately have had a bit of a sad undercurrent to them, so I thought I’d liven things up a bit with this one. It makes me smile to read and I can recall hearing this one read by Naomi. I hope you all enjoy.

Alive

Dear Abby, said someone from Oregon,
I am having trouble with my boyfriend’s attachment
to an ancient gallon of milk still full
in his refrigerator. I told him it’s me or the milk,
is this unreasonable? Dear Carolyn,
my brother won’t speak to me
because fifty years ago I whispered
a monkey would kidnap him in the night
to take him back to his true family
but he should have known it was a joke
when it didn’t happen, don’t you think?
Dear Board of Education, no one will ever
remember a test. Repeat. Stories,
poems, projects, experiments,
mischief, yes, but never a test.
Dear Dog Behind the Fence, you really need
to calm down now. You have been barking every time
I walk to the compost for two years
and I have not robbed your house. Relax.
When I asked the man on the other side
if you bothered him too, he smiled and said no,
he makes me feel less alone. Should I be more
worried about the dog or the man?

– Naomi Shihab Nye

Related articles

• “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye (objetsdevertu.wordpress.com)
• Kindness – by Naomi Shihab Nye (mygirlt.wordpress.com)
• Poems, Stories, and Memories for Ramadan (arablit.wordpress.com)
• Rode shaped lives as teacher, poet, mother (mysanantonio.com)
• “Some people have a way with words, and other people…oh, uh, not have way.” ~ Steve Martin (poietes.wordpress.com)

Reading, reading, reading… and traveling as well

So I’ve been busy reading a lot of different books the past few weeks. The problem is that I don’t tend to read one book at a time so I’ve been reading at least three books at once for awhile now. Though since I finished reading The Giver
… one of the books I constantly return to… I’m going to be able to focus more of my time towards Aristotle, which I really do want to sit down and sink my teeth into.

My “to read” list is ever growing though (Transfer by Naomi Shihab Nye, The Book of Men by Dorianne Laux, A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin, Alive in Necropolis by Doug Dorst… the list goes on) plus I’ve got a trip to New York coming up this weekend that will pretty much last the month of June. I’m going to try and keep up the blog posts during this time, but they may be skimpy on the content and limited in scope… since my selection of poems won’t include all of my own personal selection:

I’m going to be with family, but I am planning to work on my writing practice throughout the trip as well.  So expect some tips perhaps on how to write when surrounded by said family.

I hope everyone has a fun, safe weekend out there.  I know I’ll be busy traveling, but by next post I should be in NY.  Till then take care,

Stephen R.

Related articles

• Dorianne Laux – “Moon in the Window” (combatsteve.wordpress.com)
• A Comparison – Robert Frost vs. Dorianne Laux (socyberty.com)
• I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You, Naomi Shihab and Paul B Janeczko (booksjadore.wordpress.com)
• My Life’s List, or the Poetry of Purpose in my Life (melissahassard.wordpress.com)
• Book Review: Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons (lonelyowlbooks.wordpress.com)