19 Varieties of Gazelle

     19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, by Naomi Shihab Nye, is a National Book Award Finalist. When I first looked at the cover of this book, and read the title, I didn't know what to expect from this book. After reading the first poem I knew, whatever I expected, this isn't it. I found myself unable to pass the book to someone with the instructions to "read this" and then "now read this" so we could talk about it.
      In "Flinn, On the Bus" on September 11, a convict is described as having secluded himself in his cell to avoid any possible problems before his release from prison and then stares at his "free hands" while he rides the bus. How did Nye ever conceive of the idea of writing from the perspective of an ex-con?
     In "Postscript" Nye responds to a prompt to "Think of something you said. Now write what you wish you had said." We then experience the writers regret of speaking words that cannot be taken back. She expresses a desire to use words, "That nobody would get a splinter from." Naomi's poems aren't read so much as they are felt.