{"product_id":"red-suitcase-9781880238158","title":"Red Suitcase","description":"Poet, teacher, essayist, anthologist, songwriter and singer, \u003cb\u003eNaomi Shihab Nye\u003c\/b\u003e is one of the country's most acclaimed writers. Her voice is generous; her vision true; her subjects ordinary people, and ordinary situations which, when rendered through her language, become remarkable. In this, her fourth full collection of poetry, we see with new eyes-a grandmother's scarf, an alarm clock, a man carrying his son on his shoulders. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eValentine for Ernest Mann\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYou can't order a poem like you order a taco.\u003cbr\u003eWalk up to the counter and say, \"I'll take two\"\u003cbr\u003eand expect it to handed back to you\u003cbr\u003eon a shiny plate. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStill, I like you spirit.\u003cbr\u003eAnyone who says, \"Here's my address, \u003cbr\u003ewrite me a poem,\" deserves something in reply.\u003cbr\u003eSo I'll tell a secret instead: \u003cbr\u003epoems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes, \u003cbr\u003ethey are sleeping. They are the shadows\u003cbr\u003edrifting across our ceilings the moment\u003cbr\u003ebefore we wake up. What we have to do\u003cbr\u003eis live in a way that lets us find them. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOnce I knew a man who gave his wife\u003cbr\u003etwo skunks for a valentine.\u003cbr\u003eHe couldn't understand why she was crying.\u003cbr\u003e\"I thought they had such beautiful eyes.\"\u003cbr\u003eAnd he was serious. He was a serious man\u003cbr\u003ewho lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly\u003cbr\u003ejust because the world said so. He really\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eliked\u003c\/i\u003e those skunks. So, he re-invented them\u003cbr\u003eas valentines and they became beautiful.\u003cbr\u003eAt least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding\u003cbr\u003ein the eyes of skunks for centuries\u003cbr\u003ecrawled out and curled up at his feet. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMaybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us\u003cbr\u003ewe find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock\u003cbr\u003ein your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.\u003cbr\u003eAnd let me know.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNaomi Shihab Nye, poet, essayist, anthologist, has been a recipient of writing fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Witter Bynner Foundation\/Library of Congress. Author of more than twenty volumes, her recent books include Mint Snowball and 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East which was selected as a National Book Award finalist in 2002. Her books of poems include Fuel (BOA Editions) and Red Suitcase (BOA). Nye's work has been featured on the PBS poetry specials NOW with Bill Moyers, The Language of Life with Bill Moyers and The United States of Poetry . She has read her work on National Public Radio's Prairie Home Companion. Poetry editor for The Texas Observer, Nye has worked for as a visiting writer in schools at all educational levels. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50475958599954,"sku":"9781880238158","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_98ebb5c6-0479-453c-87d7-bba3416ce100.jpg?v=1730241396","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/red-suitcase-9781880238158","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}