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from the issue of October 27, 2005
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE
Naomi Shihab Nye lives in San Antonio, Texas. Here she perfectly captures a moment in childhood that nearly all of us may remember: being too small for the games the big kids were playing, and fastening tightly upon some little thing of our own.
Boy and Egg
Every few minutes, he wants
to march the trail of flattened rye grass
back to the house of muttering
hens. He too could make
a bed in hay. Yesterday the egg so fresh
it felt hot in his hand and he pressed it
to his ear while the other children
laughed and ran with a ball, leaving him,
so little yet, too forgetful in games,
ready to cry if the ball brushed him,
riveted to the secret of birds
caught up inside his fist,
not ready to give it over
to the refrigerator
or the rest of the day.
Reprinted from "Fuel," published by BOA Editions by permission of the author. Copyright (c) 1998 by Naomi Shihab Nye, whose most recent book is "A Maze Me" Harper Collins/Greenwillow, 2004. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the UNL Department of English. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.
GO TO: ISSUE OF OCTOBER 27
ARTS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 27
Museum hosts 'Art and the Animal'
American Life in Poetry
Book signing at UNL on Nov. 3
Documentary, adventure play at the Ross
Great Plains exhibition showcases new acquisitions
Lied hosts world premiere of Rinde Eckert's 'Horizon'
Theatre and Film to host TV, film professionals
732246S35126X
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