19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Overview

"Tell me how to live so many lives at once ..."

Fowzi, who beats everyone at dominoes; Ibtisam, who wanted to be a doctor; Abu Mahmoud, who knows every eggplant and peach in his West Bank garden; mysterious Uncle Mohammed, who moved to the mountain; a girl in a red sweater dangling a book bag; children in velvet dresses who haunt the candy bowl at the party; Baba Kamalyari, age 71; Mr. Dajani and his swans; Sitti Khadra, who never lost her peace inside.

Maybe they have something to tell us.

Naomi Shihab Nye has been writing about being Arab-American, about Jerusalem, about the West Bank, about family all her life. These new and collected poems of the Middle East — sixty in all — appear together here for the first time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060504045
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/15/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	47,959
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.12(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	910L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 Years

About the Author

Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet and anthologist and the acclaimed author of Habibi: A Novel and Sitti's Secrets, a picture book, which was based on her own experiences visiting her beloved Sitti in Palestine. Her book 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East was a finalist for the National Book Award. She has taught writing and worked in schools all over the world, including in Muscat, Oman. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Read an Excerpt

Steps

A man letters the sign for his grocery in Arabic and English.
Paint dried more quickly in English.
The thick swoops and curls of Arabic letters stay moist
and glistening til tomorrow when the children show up
jingling their dimes.

They have learned the currency of the New World,
carrying wishes for gum and candies shaped like fish.
They float through the streets, diving deep to the bottom,
nosing rich layers of crusted shell.

One of these children will tell a story that keeps her people
alive. We don't know yet which one she is.
Girl in the red sweater dangling a book bag,
sister with eyes pinned to the barrel of pumpkin seeds.
They are lettering the sidewalk with their steps.

They are separate and together and a little bit late.
Carrying a creased note, "Don't forget."
Who wrote it? They've already forgotten.
A purple fish sticks to the back of the throat.
Their long laughs are boats they will ride and ride,
making the shadows that cross each other's smiles.

—Naomi Shihab Nye

Table of Contents

	Introduction	x
Section 11
	Different Ways to Pray	3
	My Father and the Figtree	6
	What Kind of Fool Am I?	8
	Going to the Spring	9
	Biography of an Armenian Schoolgirl	11
	The Words Under the Words	14
	Spark	16
	The Man Who Makes Brooms	18
	The Garden of Abu Mahmoud	20
	Her Way	22
	The Clean Rinse	24
	For Mohammed on the Mountain	25
	Passing the Refugee Camp	30
	Lunch in Nablus City Park	35
	Arabic Coffee	38
	Red Brocade	40
	Steps	42
	Prayer in My Boot	44
	Things Don't Stop	46
	Even at War	50
	The Grieving Ring	51
	For the 500th Dead Palestinian, Ibtisam Bozieh	53
	Those Whom We Do Not Know	55
	Visit	58
	The Palestinians Have Given Up Parties	59
	The Small Vases from Hebron	63
	Darling	65
	Fundamentalism	68
	My Grandmother in the Stars	69
	Rock	70
	Praying for Wind	73
	Olive Jar	80
	They Dropped It	83
Section 285
	19 Varieties of Gazelle	87
	Arabic	90
	Jerusalem	92
	Holy Land	94
	Half-and-Half	96
	Stain	98
	My Uncle's Favorite Coffee Shop	99
	A Definite Shore	102
	Two Countries	104
	The Tray	105
	The Many Hats of William Yale	106
	What News Are You Listening To?	108
	Staying Close	109
	Ducks	110
	The Address Book of a Lonely Man	112
	Footfall	114
	Trenches and Moats and Mounds of Dirt	117
	What He Said to His Enemies	119
	Peace	120
	How Long Peace Takes	122
	A Single Slice Reveals Them	124
	Stone House	125
	Jerusalem Headlines 2000	128
	Mr. Dajani, Calling from Jericho	130
	All Things Not Considered	133
	Blood	136
	Postscript	139

Editorial Reviews

This elegant poetry collection evokes the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the Middle East, especially Jerusalem, as experienced by a Palestinian-American. The sixty poems reflect the strength Nye derives from her father's family and the pain she feels reading "deeply sorrowful headlines" concerning Arabs. With so few books for teens by Arab-Americans, this moving collection is all the more important for those beginning to understand and appreciate Arab culture.

Kathleen Odean

Many of the poems, which focus on the Middle East and the Arab-American experience, have appeared in previous collections; others are published here for the first time. PW called this an excellent way to invite exploration and discussion of events far away and their impact here at home. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Nye's latest collection of poetry appropriately deals with Arab Americans and the Middle East. Several poems in this new collection have been published before, but those about the Middle East appear for the first time together in one volume. In a heartfelt introduction, Nye relates her emotions about the tragic terrorist events of September 11, 2001, and how they prompted her to turn to a familiar source for solace—poetry. These poems show what life is like for Arab Americans who are tied to two very different worlds. Caught painfully between these two worlds, they feel the horror and sadness over the terrorist acts yet are aware of the many innocent Arabs who have become victims as well. Nye's introduction and her poetry clearly reflect this pain. In "Ducks," the narrator compares her position between two countries to three ducks living together in her pond, but not getting along very well. The poet sees herself as the female duck trying to survive in the pond with two warring companions. In "Blood," Nye speaks of her father, who like the poet, belongs to two countries but can wave the flag of neither in the conflict between Palestine and the U.S.-backed Israel. Like most of Nye's books, this latest work is a worthy addition to any library. This collection can help teens understand a different point of view and a culture with which most teens are not familiar, while helping to ease the lingering pain still felt months after lives changed on September 11. This book can be enjoyed by the individual reader or used effectively in a classroom setting. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; JuniorHigh, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2002, Greenwillow, 160p,
— Jennifer Rice

VOYA

In between the silly poetry of childhood (Mother Goose, Shel Silverstein) and the swirling, metaphoric, sometimes pretentious poetry of adulthood is the gray area of adolescence, when much of the reading done is required for school, and poetry is rarely touched. Many teachers often ask, "How can we make poetry a relevant medium for teenagers?" Naomi Shihab Nye may have the answer with her book of poetry from the Middle East. Teenagers are more interested in current events now than they have been since the Gulf War. This is poetry they can be interested in. The book starts with a tribute poem and an intro concerning the events of September 11. The Gulf War is mentioned explicitly once. The rest of the poems (60 in all) deal with the humanity of Arabs and their daily joys and struggles, so a new generation of readers can learn to appreciate this rich and ancient culture from a new perspective. Nye's words will always be slightly ahead of a teenage reader, but the reader will never feel left behind. These are excellent poems to start an even-handed dialogue on the daily struggle in Israel/Palestine.
—Carey Ahr

Children's Literature

Gr 6 Up-Nye is well known as an anthologist for children, but adults have enjoyed her poetry collections for years, and many of those selections, as well as new ones, are gathered here. In her introduction, she describes the effects of the events of September 11th on her and other Arab-Americans. An introductory poem is about that day in particular; otherwise, the selections are about her family, her visits to the Middle East, and her observations of events there in general. This offering is a celebration of her heritage, and a call for peace. In "Jerusalem," she says, "I'm not interested in who suffered the most. I'm interested in people getting over it," using her poetic voice to make her point clearly and powerfully. Other poems are more particular, using family members, or meetings with friends or strangers as the frames around which her image-rich world unfolds. "My Father and the Figtree": "For other fruits my father was indifferent. He'd point at the cherry trees and say, `See those? I wish they were figs.' In the evenings he sat by our beds weaving folktales like vivid little scarves. They always involved a figtree. Even when it didn't fit, he'd stick it in." Of particular use today, this is the kind of book that young and older readers of poetry will turn back to over and over.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

In a collection as rich as the subject, Nye (Come With Me, 2000, etc.) brings together all of her poems about the Middle East, old and new, familiar and unknown. Opening with a poem about a young man just released from prison on the morning of September 11th, she follows with a reflection on what that day has meant for everyone, especially for Arabs and Arab-Americans, who, through Nye, say: "This is not who we are." She follows with exquisitely nuanced images of fig trees, grandmothers, Palestinian children, the loss of "pleasant pauses," and "The Man Who Makes Brooms." Asking "How Long Peace Takes," Nye writes, "As long as the question-what if I / were you?-has two heads," and answers a border guard, "We will eat cabbage rolls, rice with sugar and milk, / crisply sizzled eggplant. When the olives come / sailing past / in their little boat, we will line them on our / plates / like punctuation. What do governments have to do / with such pleasure?" Poem after poem will elicit a gasp of surprise, a nod of the head, a pause to reflect. There are no false steps here-only a feeling of sensory overload and a need to take a deep breath and reread or to find someone to share the intensely felt emotion that springs from the lines. In her closing poem, a musing on what one should have said, she writes, "Say it / as if words count." With this gifted writer, they really do. (Poetry. 10+)

Kirkus Reviews