Naomi Shihab Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye was born on March 12, 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri to a father who was a Palestinian refugee and an American mother who was of German and Swiss descent. Nye’s mother read frequently to her as a young

Supple Cord

by Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952)

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15

My brother, in his small white bed,
held one end.
I tugged the other
to signal I was still awake.
We could have spoken,
could have sung
to one another,
we were in the same room
for five years,

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