Cast Away
Poems for Our Time
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins), 2020. 159 pages.
Starred Review
Review written March 6, 2020, from a library book
This is a book of poems about trash. And I was surprised, but it made me want to write poems about trash, too. In fact, I will never look at things thrown by the side of the road the same way.
In the Introduction, Naomi Shihab Nye writes about her compulsion to pick up trash. She makes a habit of going out and cleaning up her spaces. And other spaces in her neighborhood. And even spaces where she visits.
And then she writes poems about it. Here are a few short ones.
Two
Two white buttons
not matching
in hot white gravel
dreaming of
shirts
Junk Mail
The great poet
William Stanley Merwin
known as W. S.
wrote first drafts of his poems
on junk mail envelopes
plucked from the garbage
so he never had to worry
about wasting paper
or being perfect
Most of the poems are longer than these. And most either make you smile or make you think.
I enjoyed this book, reading several poems per day. I will not look at things thrown out the same way again. I’m even thinking maybe it’s time to pick up some of the detritus on the edges of my local lake.
My favorite part of the book, though, is at the back, called “Ideas for Writing, Recycling, Reclaiming.” After reading all the poems about things thrown away, I was ready for ideas about getting out and cleaning up – and then writing about it. Here’s the second idea listed, after the first idea of ways to equip yourself to get out and pick up trash:
Write about what you find. You learn a lot about human nature while doing this. Why do people throw certain things away? What do these leavings tell you about your neighbors? Imagine the litterer. Create a character study from everything you find on one day, as if it all came from one person. Or write a story including 5-10 of the items you find.
Further ideas involve ways of including other people as well as further writing prompts. I also like this one: “Write a letter to a particular piece of trash.”
The final paragraph of this section is something she’s shown to be true with the entire book:
It’s never too late to make things better. Understanding them more might help.
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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.
Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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