Poems & Short Prose

“Nye’s sheer joy in communicating, creativity, and caring shine through.”—Kirkus Reviews

A moving and celebratory poetry collection from Young People’s Poet Laureate and National Book Award Finalist Naomi Shihab Nye.

“Nye’s sheer joy in communicating, creativity, and caring shine through.”—Kirkus Reviews

A moving and celebratory poetry collection from Young People’s Poet Laureate and National Book Award Finalist Naomi Shihab Nye. This resonant volume explores the similarities we share with the people around us—family, friends, and complete strangers.

Honey. Beeswax. Pollinate. Hive. Colony. Work. Dance. Communicate. Industrious. Buzz. Sting. Cooperate.

Where would we be without honeybees? Where would we be without one another?

In eighty-two poems and paragraphs (including the renowned Gate A-4), Naomi Shihab Nye alights on the essentials of our time—our loved ones, our dense air, our wars, our memories, our planet—and leaves us feeling curiously sweeter and profoundly soothed.

Includes an introduction by the poet.