Naomi Shihab Nye writes poems like I've never seen before. She uses stories that seem to stem from real-life situations that she has faced or seen, and then puts them in a light to be appreciated. Sometimes we forget about the little things that make up our lives, and even the little moments that give us pleasure. We may forget, but Nye helps us remember and reflect.
After I read "My Father and the Figtree," I thought it was such a cute little poem of how Naomi Shihab Nye remembers such a funny quirk about her father. She recalls his love of figtrees from a very young age. I especially liked when she mentioned that he used to add figtrees into stories. "In the evening he sat by my beds weaving folktales like vivid little scarves" (2). I really enjoyed this imagery about weaving folktales like scarves. Making a scarf can be fairly intricate, and something beautiful. The word "vivid" makes it seem like something just pops out, and bright. This poem reminded me of my dad reading or telling stories to my siblings and I when we were little. I think that most everyone can think of something in their life that they love so much, whether it be food or not, that they think is best above everything else. The father knows what a good fig is like, and probably wants others to experience the joy that he finds in this fruit. The father is so giddy, and almost childish, as he writes a song about his figtree in the end. I don't think there is anything else that gives him so much pleasure. Nye mentions that it is an "assurance of a world that was always his own" (2).
Another poem that I enjoyed was "Coming into Cuzco." I didn't even know what Cuzco was before I read this piece, and then looked it up as well. Apparently, it's a fairly well known tourist destination in Peru. And Nye is writing about an experience on the way there. Whether it's actually her or not, I don't know, but I read it that way. The first half of the poem was kind of sad to me. The first thing I noticed that revealed a sadness was when the author says, "I was a broken jug, nothing could fill me" (4). I didn't really see anything that said why this was, or a reason to be so empty. Regardless, the person felt an emptiness. As she goes about to the airport, she notices people that are living a routine life with "their new alpaca sweaters" and "how easily [they] joined the ticket line, how easily [they] mentioned coffee" (4). But while this is happening, who I think is Nye, is noticing "an old man with white hair who had just stepped off the plane followed by a casket" (4).
Sometimes we can be so easily involved in our own little world with the people around us and the things that we see as important, not even taking notice of others. We tend to live our lives with ourselves in the center of our universe. What if we stopped to take a look at others around us? What if we notice someone who is looking sad? What if this person is lonely and going through a hard time. As Christians, we need to remove ourselves from the center, put Jesus first and then others. Lastly, we deal with ourselves. Maybe if we paid attention to others we could find more opportunities to witness and pray with others who are needing some comfort through a hard time. I am putting this as a challenge to myself, to pay more attention to others and not live so routinely, but to break out of my norm at times to reach out to those around me.
Back to the poem. The person that I believe is Nye, then begins to think about her life in the future, and how it would feel "to be riding next to the body of the one you have loved" (4). She sympathizes with the old man and feels the heartbreak. But then comes the changing point when she arrives. She still feels this heavy weight on her when she boards a bus. And some of the simple things in life remind her that there is happiness. First, a baby on the bus shouts "Vamos! every time the bus paused" and the narrator laughs a little, even though it seems foreign at the moment. Then a young girl with flowers hands Nye "one perfect pink rose, because [they] had noticed each other, and that was all" (4). Just a simple acknowledgement can lead to other moments that can make our day. Something like this, that is so simple can change our attitudes and remind us that "it should not be so difficult to be happy in this world" (4).
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