Cast Away: poems for our time by Naomi Shihab Nye

Bibliography

Nye, N. S. (2020). Cast away: Poems for our time. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. ISBN 0062907700

Summary

Cast Away: poems for our time is a collection of eighty-four poems by Naomi Shihab Nye that use the topic of things thrown away. It is humorous, heart felt, and a call to action. 

Analysis

The cover of Naomi Shihab Nye’s book features colorful silhouettes of found trash. There are mittens, plastic soda can rings, shoes, cracked mugs, straws, and even a dog. After opening the book, readers pass the dedication and find a table of contents, making it easy to search for specific poems. Poems are separated into “routes” with names like Sweepings, Titters & Tatters, and Odds & Ends. The first poem seen in the book, before Shihab Nye’s introduction to the reader, is a poem called Taking Out the Trash by Kamilah Aisha Moon. It’s a beautiful reflective poem about the mundane task of taking out the trash. This is the first indication that although this book is marketed to young people, there are many poems with subjects that younger audiences might not understand. However, there are still plenty of poems to share with them, and the beauty of the writing will shine through even if some topics are unfamiliar. 

The poems in this collection include short, punchy poems like Look at Me, Look at Me about old political signs, as well as long, lyrical poems like Leavings. The first line of this poems is a good example of how even though her poems are about trash, she also makes a point to say that certain things that are “cast away” are not trash. The poem reads, “People were never trash./ Under the highway bridge/ in a bombed city, encamped under tarps/ people were still sons, teachers/ teenagers who wanted better clothes/”. Many other poems are about immigration and refugees. In all her poems, Shihab Nye’s poems have momentum, pushing the reader forward through her thoughts. In particular, Dear August A. Busch is a good example of this, “you’s curl up on snowy nights/ giant horses tied in a stable outside/  I think I love you  anyone kooky enough/ to build a windmill/ I’m sorry you suffered so much illness/ and such a round end/ By now your treasured landmark/ has been many restaurants”. Her poems are full of imagery like “with a giant fragrance, Star of Bethlehem flowers/ popping after rain/ pointed pink and white heads on skinny stalks” and “cocoons of syllables knitted into the air”. Her word choice is genius as seen with phrases like “pain constellation” to describe scattered pain medication on the ground. Naomi Shihab Nye is a gifted writer, and the poems in Cast Away: poems for our time are no exception.

Sample Poem

Separated

Band-Aid printed with green turtles

crumpled b the road

at Ingleside on the Bay, Texas

I think I know

which little boy lost that

He’ll fret when he sees it is missing

A few hundred miles from here

thousands of traumatized kids 

huddle in cages

abandoned Walmarts

missing their mamas y papas

Who can believe this?

Land of the Free!

What can we know

of their stories, tears,

the fear their parents carried,

what you might have to drop

if you were walking across Mexico

or the actual moment

someone big seized the child

and told the parents to go?

How big was the wailing?

I cannot believe 

what people do.

Later, could the border patrol agent

sleep easily?

His own kids in the bedroom next to his?

When I was seven, I read “The Hangman at Home”

by Carl Sandburg.

“Anything is easy for a hangman, I guess.”

I had to ask, “What is a hangman?”

No one would tell me.

Our favorite Republican pal writes a note saying,

“At least the kids will be having regular meals

and recreational activities now,”

but I want to lie down

and cover my head with a pillow

as my father did

the day his own family

became refugees

so long ago. 

Activity Ideas

Introduce the book and it’s concept to students. Show them to cover and ask them to make some predictions about what sorts of poems might be in the book. Read the selected poem. Allow students to share their reactions and connections to the poem. Pair the poem with this article from Newsela: https://newsela.com/read/ela-writers-migrant-journeys/id/55514/?_flash_query_param_1=339?collection_id=339. Guide students in a discussion about what impact writers have on current issues. Draw a connection between written works they know about in history.