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Article: Poet's Choice
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Here's a poem for the season from Naomi Shihab Nye. She's a
Palestinian-American poet who lives in San Antonio. This comes from
her most recent book, Fuel, published by BOA Editions:
The Last Day of August
A man in a lawn chair
with a book on his lap
realizes pears are falling
from the tree right beside him.
Each makes a round,
full sound in the grass.
Perhaps the stem takes an hour
to loosen and let go.
This man who has recently written words
to his father forty years in the birthing:
I was always afraid of you,
When would you explode next?
has sudden reverence for the pears.
If a dark bruise rises,
if ants inhabit the juicy crack,
or the body remains firm, unscarred,
remains ...