The Flag of Childhood: Poems From the Middle East

by Naomi Shihab Nye (Compiler)

A stirring anthology of sixty poems from the Middle East selected by honored anthologist, writer, and editor Naomi Shihab Nye.

This beautiful collection of eloquent poems from Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, and elsewhere open windows into the hearts and souls of people we usually meet only on the nightly news. What we see when we look through these windows is the love of family, friends, and for the Earth, the daily occurrences of life that touch us forever, the longing for a sense of place. What we learn is that beneath the veil of stereotypes, our human connections are stronger than our cultural differences.

Genres: Poetry, Middle East, Young Adult, Cultural, Anthologies, Adult

99 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

Naomi Shihab Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Jordan, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas, where she later received her B.A. in English and world religions from Trinity University. She is a novelist, poet and songwriter.

She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. She was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2010.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marketed as a book for young adults, this collection of poems by writers from the Middle East, The Flag of Childhood, is really a book for all ages. It contains pieces by some poets I've read before like Mahmoud Darwish and Suheir Hammad and introduced me to many others I had never previously encountered, many whose works are out of print or not available in English translation.

Published in 2001, after the events of 11 September, the book was meant to humanize the people of the Middle East, who were often portrayed cartoonishly and one-dimensionally in mainstream Western media, especially as the Western world was building up the case for war against Iraq (following the invasion of Afghanistan). The book shows us that as humans we have a lot more commonalities than we do differences. We share love, dreams, fears, hopes. We bleed and we suffer. We want the best for our children and other loved ones.

The book I got second-hand and it is stamped throughout with the words "Juvenile Detention Center." The fact that many of the poets in the collection have experiences living as refugees and in occupied Palestine made the weight of that stamp (which appears three times in the interior of the book) feel ever heavier every time I came across it. The book highlights universal truths, but it is just as clear that the experiences of each of us are unique, owing to the time and place we are born, as well as culture, privilege and the individual experience.

Poetry speaks the language of the universal. Literature (and likewise film and music) allows us to sympathize, if not empathize, with others. If only more people took the time to encounter art and culture and not just of the artists of our time and milieu, but of other times and parts of the world. It might just teach us how to be better human beings.

[Thanh Thanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems is worth to read. Most of the poems are fine, some beautiful, but these are my fav two:

Optimistic Man
as a child he never plucked the wings off flies
he didn't tie tin cans to cats' tails
or lock beetles in matchboxes
or stomp anthills
he grew up
and all those things were done to him
I was at his bedside when he died
he said read me a poem
about the sun and the sea
about nuclear reactors and satellites
about the greatness of humanity




The Strange Tale
We laughed at the past.
Tomorrow the future will be laughing
at us.
This is the world, a tale spun
by some great magician.
The living perform the marvelous play
as if they were already dead.
The stage is sad
with its curtain of mist.
And beyond the curtain,
the audience of the future watches us, laughing.
They don't see how the script
is falling into there own hands.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a children's book. Sprinkled within this anthology are some lovely poems, powerful poems. Seems to be about 53 poems within--strangely, there's no table of contents--and a half dozen appealed to me strongly. So many marvelous and yet unknown poets in the world.

Most people seem to prefer anthologies. I don't. I like to read one voice at a time. Still, I'm usually glad when I do, especially when I am exposed to new voices that otherwise I may not have discovered. Explore other voices yourself.

[˗ˏˋ♡withlovewidad♡ˎˊ˗ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that is a collection of (in my opinion, poorly translated) 'Middle Eastern' poems centered around childhood with a quote by George W. Bush proudly displayed on the back. Enough said.

[nogall0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked a lot of the poems, especially those:

"As I traveled from the city
toward the country
old age fell off my shoulders."

-------------------------------

Awakening
"Darkness slowly lifts\the yawning street
shakes off the remnants of long sleep
garbage still heaped at the corners
the shops still closed
and little trees search for their reflections
in the shining window panes.
Now the houses begin to show some movement
a window opens here
a balcony there as a lovely shadow
emerges with the morning light
A little while, then quickly
the earth goes crazy
a bus appears,
then another,
then another,
and people rush forth in every street and alley."

-------------------------------
From the Diary of an Almost-Four-Year-Old
"Tomorrow, the bandages
will come off. I wonder
will I see half an orange,
half an apple, half my
mother's face
with my one remaining eye?
I did not see the bullet
but felt its pain
exploding in my head.
His image did not
vanish, the soldier
with a big gun, unsteady
hands, and a look in
his eyes
I could not understand.
If I can see him so clearly
with my eyes closed,
it could be that inside our heads
we each have one spare set
of eyes
to make up for the ones we lose.
Next month, on my birthday,
I'll have a brand new glass eye,
maybe things will look round
and fat in the middle-
I've gazed through all my marbles,
they made the world look strange.
I hear a nine-month-old
has also lost an eye,
I wonder if my soldier
shot her too-a soldier
looking for little girls who
look him in the eye-
I'm old enough, almost four,
I've seen enough of life,
but she's just a baby
who didn't know any better."

-------------------------------
from Thread by Thread
"Thread by thread
knot by knot
like colonies of ants
we weave a bridge
Thread by thread
piece by piece
knitting embroidering
sewing decorating
thread by thread
we weave
the map of conciliation.
Rachel's is white
Yemima's purple
Amal's is green
Salima's rose-colored
thread by thread
we stitch together
torn hearts
bind the map of conciliation.
I pray for the life of Ami and Nitsi
you pray for Ilan, Shoshi and Itsik
and she prays
for Jehan, Asheraf and Fahed
with the same tear.
Word and another word
prayer and another prayer
and our heart is one
we embroider in hope
a map of love
to tear down the borders..."

[Natalie Leinbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book. Very inspired. I always enjoy anthologies and this is no different. It includes diverse voices from the middle east with discussions that grapple with gender, reminisce about youth, embrace the connection to land, and denounce the violence of the israeli occupation. I so enjoyed exploring this region of the world through the contributors’ poetry. This book embodies Arabic art and heritage. Various poets express sincere love for (and familiarity with) the land in the middle east, the fruit it bears, and the ancestry it represents. Many of the poems are heavy. I can feel the yearning for peace after so many years of tireless resistance from US and Israeli oppression. There were also 11 pages of notes on the contributors at the end so I’m looking forward to reading more from many of these distinguished scholars and illustrious authors.

[m0se · Rating 2 out of 5]

decent, the translations arent great and seem awkward at times, the selection is random, but im not a big fan of poetry collections in general. I would have given this 3 stars if it didnt have a quote from bush in the back lol, but should be expected from any literature to do with the middle east from that era to have to scream about how its not somehow anti-american even though it has nothing to do with politics. decent book, product of its time, i would reccomend you try reading the poems in their original language if you know them, and if not, seek out more recent high quality translations.

[Abby Franks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of poetry was really beautiful, but kind of disjointed. I liked the individual poems, but they definitely didn't flow together. It gave emotion and feeling to the conflicts going on in the Middle East, and I really felt that.

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But we love you," my parents said. "We love you very much." I know, but they loved me as a girl.

[Deirdre]

A Banned Book.

[Dusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

My expectations for this book were low; the title led me to the precipitate conclusion that the poems in this anthology were written by children of the Middle East. As it is, this is a collection of five dozen or so poems written by adults about childhood in the Middle East. A handful of these I adored -- particularly Abu-L-Qasim al-Shabbi's "Strange Tale". But most of the pieces in this anthology I found plain and in many cases too reliant on cliched images like birds and tears. I picked up this book longing for a different kind of poetry but what I found in these "Poems From The Middle East" I could have just as easily found in any American poetry textbook.

But that must be the anthologist's purpose, to demonstrate how the American and Middle Eastern worlds are more alike than they are different. Why else would the quote heralding over the back cover be George W. Bush's "The enemy of America is not our many Arab friends"? If so, I think Naomi Shihab Nye's gone about her work the wrong way; if her mission is to build friendship between cultures, her compilation of poems should explain differing perspectives rather than pretend differing perspectives do not exist.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Poems
Illustrator: Debra Sfetsios
Date of Publication: 1998

Reading Level: ages 8-12
Theme:Middle east poetry

Curicula use: teaches children about how the middle eastern culture feels about things within their culture.
Social Issues: culture change

Text & Pictures: This book only contains poems no pictures. However, the cover does a great job luring you into wanting to read the book.

extras: This book is excellent. There are tons of poetry, and the best thing about this is that you really have to read some of the poems over and over to understand what the author is trying to portray. This is a good book to have in a classroom excpecially when learning about the middle east.

[Melody Kephart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrator: Debra Sfetsios
Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
Date of Publication: 1998

Genre: Poetry, Cultural
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Theme: Poetry, Middle East Culture

Curicula use: teach children the Middle Eastern culture
teach children to value the art of poetry
Social Issues: Culture

Text & Pictures: This is a book filled with poems. There are no illustrations to match the text aside from the cover.
Summary: A collection of poetry. The author takes poetry from children of the Middle Eastern culture and puts them together in this wonderful book.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to a variety of poets from the Middle East! Although meant as a collection for children and young adults, I think even adult readers will gain something for these poems. I appreciated the biographic information about each contributor at the back of the book. I was most excited to read poems by Hamza El Din and Nathalie Handal - and I could totally relate to the poem by Egyptian Pauline Kaldas. Not only would this collection of poems enlighten American students about life in the Middle East, it would also be engaging for all the students over here studying in English!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edited by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Highlights:
Optimistic Man - Nazim Hikmet, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk;
"As I traveled from the city toward the country old age fell off my shoulders." - Salah Fa’iq, translated by Patricia Alanah Byrne and Salma Khadra Jayyusi;
Attention - Saadi Youssef, translated by Khaled Mattawa;
The Beginning of the Road - Adonis, translated by Samuel Hazo;
Unveiled - Gladys Alam Saroyan;
Memoirs in Exile - Joseph Abi Daher, translated by Adnan Haydar and Michael Beard;
rice haikus - Suheir Hammad;
A Day in the Life of Nablus - Sharif S. Elmusa

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originall printed in a beautiful full color edition under the title The Space Between Our Footsteps-- this collection of poetry from the Middle East is astounding -- painful, beautiful, simple, and profound. It's a fabulous read for readers of al ages. "The Diary of An Almost Four Year Old" breaks my heart everytime I read it.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this anthology of 60 poems, Shihab shares a glimpse into the hearts and lives of the people of the Middle East. We learn about the things we share including childhood.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly like the poems by Hamza el Din

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally enjoyed many of these poems, but probably best for my older kids than my fifth graders.

[Faye Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of poems. Great for the classroom, too.