The Man Whose Voice Has Been Taken From His Throat

Naomi Shihab Nye

 
remains all supple hands and gesture
skin of language
fusing its finest seam
in fluent light
with a raised finger
dance of lips
each sentence complete
he speaks to the shadow
of leaves
strung tissue paper
snipped into delicate flags
on which side of the conversation
did anyone begin?
wearing two skins
the brilliant question mark of Mexico
stands on its head
like an answer
 
From Red Suitcase. Copyright © 1994 by Naomi Shihab Nye. Published by BOA Editions, Ltd. Used by permission of the publisher.

Poems by This Author

Alive by Naomi Shihab Nye
Dear Abby, wrote someone from Oregon
Arabic by Naomi Shihab Nye
The man with laughing eyes stopped smiling
Blood by Naomi Shihab Nye
Burning the Old Year by Naomi Shihab Nye
Letters swallow themselves in seconds
Daily by Naomi Shihab Nye
These shriveled seeds we plant
Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye
The river is famous to the fish
Fuel by Naomi Shihab Nye
Even at this late date, sometimes I have to look up
Gate A-4 by Naomi Shihab Nye
Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning
Haunted by Naomi Shihab Nye
We are looking for your laugh.
How Palestinians Keep Warm by Naomi Shihab Nye
Choose one word and say it over
Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
Before you know what kindness really is
Lying While Birdwatching by Naomi Shihab Nye
Making a Fist by Naomi Shihab Nye
For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
Many Asked Me Not to Forget Them by Naomi Shihab Nye
Where do you keep all these people?
Negotiations with a Volcano by Naomi Shihab Nye
We will call you "Agua" like the rivers and cool jugs
San Antonio by Naomi Shihab Nye
Tonight I lingered over your name,
Shoulders by Naomi Shihab Nye
A man crosses the street in rain
Snow by Naomi Shihab Nye
Once with my scarf knotted over my mouth
Streets by Naomi Shihab Nye
A man leaves the world
The Rider by Naomi Shihab Nye
A boy told me
The Traveling Onion by Naomi Shihab Nye
When I think how far the onion has traveled
The Words Under the Words by Naomi Shihab Nye
My grandmother’s hands recognize grapes
Two Countries by Naomi Shihab Nye
Skin remembers how long the years grow
Wedding Cake by Naomi Shihab Nye
Once on a plane


Further Reading

Poems about Stealing
After
by T. R. Hummer
Against Pleasure
by Robin Becker
America
by Claude McKay
Cahoots
by Carl Sandburg
Learning to Read
by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Museum Guard
by David Hernandez
Some People
by Wislawa Szymborska
Stealing The Scream
by Monica Youn
The Not-Yet Child
by Joshua Weiner
Poems about Voice
Hearing your words and not a word among them (Sonnet XXXVI)
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
If My Voice Is Not Reaching You
by Afzal Ahmed Syed
Lift Every Voice and Sing
by James Weldon Johnson
Meeting at Night
by Robert Browning
On Silence
by R. Zamora Linmark
Silences
by John Montague
Speedway
by Cedar Sigo
The Keeper's Voice
by Mike Carson
The Little Mute Boy
by Federico García Lorca
The Voice
by Thomas Hardy
Time
by Chris Martin
Voices
by Sharon Olds