“Because of LibrariesWe Can Say These Things”

Naomi Shihab Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye

“ . . . [poetry is a] conversation with the world, conversation with those words on the page allowing them to speak back to you-- conversation with yourself.”

“. . . language can carry us to understanding, and connect us to things that matter in our lives. For those of us who trust poetry and the power of linkage that poetry gives us. It's a way of-- sitting quietly with words and-- letting us-- them lead us somewhere.”

"Poetry is the melodious, international language that carries our minds and hearts into deeper places than the shallow waters we splash around in all day long," she told me. "A poem invites response and interpretation and usually acts friendly, as if it were putting out a hand."

"For me, poetry has always been a place of great and necessary refreshment. It is the true rest stop in life. 'Pause here,' it says. 'Be filled with seeing. Say something simple and true.'"

Theme

A theme is a message of a story, poem, novel, or play, often expressed as a general statement about life. Some works have a stated theme, which is expressed directly. More commonly, works have an implied theme, which is revealed gradually. Recurring themes are ideas or concepts that are repeated within a work or in more than one work.

“Because of LibrariesWe Can Say These Things”

She is holding the book close to her body,carrying it home on the cracked sidewalk,down the tangled hill.If a dog runs her again, she will use the book as

a shield.

Because of LibrariesWe Can Say These Things

She looked hard among the long linesof books to find this one.When they start talking about money,when the day contains such long and hot places,she will go inside.An orange bed is waiting.Story without corners.She will have two families.They will eat at different hours.

Because of LibrariesWe Can Say These Things

She is carrying a book past the fire stationand the five-and-dime.What this town has not given herthe book will provide; a sheep,a wilderness of new solutions.The book has already lived through its troubles.The book has a calm cover, a straight spine.

Because of LibrariesWe Can Say These Things

When the step returns to itselfas the best place for sitting,and the old men up and down the streetare latching their clippers,

Because of LibrariesWe Can Say These Things

she will not be alone.She will have a book to openand open and open.Her life starts here.

Reading Check

In the first stanza what is the girl in the poem doing?

In the second stanza it states “When they start talking about money”. Who is the ‘they’?

Who are the two families the girl in the poem has?

What has the town not given the girl? Who or what can give those things to her?

Interpretations

Based on details in the poem, what can you infer about the young girl’s neighborhood?

Line 10 in the second stanza contains a metaphor. Who or what is the orange bed?

In the third stanza the book is personified. What human quality has the book been given?

In lines 16-20, what does the girl understand about how reading a book can enhance her life?

How is the theme presented in this poem?

Writing

Write a poem using the theme from Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things, or write a poem that expresses the opposite sentiment.