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Hugging the Jukebox
Nye, Naomi Shihab
- GenresPoetry
68 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
Naomi Shihab Nye
138 books1,002 followersNaomi 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.
She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. She was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 2, 2021
took forever to read this but i love naomi shihab nye. some of tha language is a bit dated (pubbed in '82) but overall so good.
October 28, 2017
I just had the pleasure of going out to dinner with her and listening to her read her poetry out loud. A wonderful woman and I really enjoyed listening to her poetry!!
September 15, 2023
2023 Reading Challenge - book of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author.
August 6, 2014
A poet of people, Naomi Shihab Nye (Palestinian raised in the midwest and ultimately living in Texas) definitely has a gamut of people up all the sleeves. I have always considered her to be the "kindness" poet, for her poetry embraces, praises, and celebrates what is common to you and me.
From buttonholes and pulleys:
"I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do."
to the land:
"Out here it's impossible to be lonely.
The land walking beside you is your oldest friend,
pleasantly silent, like already you've told the best stories
and each of you knows how much the other made up."
to making a fist:
"'How do you know if you are going to die?'
I begged my mother...
With strange confidence she answered,
'When you can no longer make a fist'...
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand."
to waking up:
"You want little.
Only to know where every mind goes
when it is not with the feet,
what blossom it returns to again and again
to remind it this life is worth waking up for."
Lovely.
From buttonholes and pulleys:
"I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do."
to the land:
"Out here it's impossible to be lonely.
The land walking beside you is your oldest friend,
pleasantly silent, like already you've told the best stories
and each of you knows how much the other made up."
to making a fist:
"'How do you know if you are going to die?'
I begged my mother...
With strange confidence she answered,
'When you can no longer make a fist'...
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand."
to waking up:
"You want little.
Only to know where every mind goes
when it is not with the feet,
what blossom it returns to again and again
to remind it this life is worth waking up for."
Lovely.
January 10, 2012
The poems I relate to, I love. The poems told about children, or to children, or from the perspective of a child are her best. This one had a large section of poems seemingly written while she traveled around South and Central America, and those I did not get into. But the rest were great.
April 1, 2019
Overall a pleasant collection. A few, including the title poem, really landed for me.
I got the chance to sit down and chat with this author. Listen in here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...
I got the chance to sit down and chat with this author. Listen in here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews