Morning Song

Naomi Shihab Nye

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

The Juxtaposition of Childhood and Adulthood

The poem opens with “the tiny journalist” (Line 1), which is an oxymoron of sorts because “tiny” refers not only to the journalist’s stature, but also to her age. Journalism is usually associated with professional adults. In the fourth stanza, the speaker explains that the tiny journalist “would / prefer to dance and play” (Lines 7-8), which are suitable activities for a girl her age. The speaker mentions that the tiny journalist would prefer “the world / to be pink” (Lines 9-10), just before stating “It is her job to say / what she sees” (Lines 10-11). Her life could be full of pink toys and other childhood endeavors, but she has a job to do and she does so with the tools at hand: a simple phone, which she “holds […] high / like a balloon” (Lines 6-7). The comparison to a balloon adds a youthful, fun feeling but simultaneously demonstrates how adept she is at holding the phone to capture relevant footage.

Later in the poem, the speaker says that the journalist travels to see “action on far away roads” (Line 26), which implies an adult probably has to accompany her. Later, the speaker details the journalist’s rather unorthodox methods, which make sense for her age: “She takes counsel from bugs” (Line 28). Not only do these personified bugs provide guidance, but the speaker, on behalf of the young girl, contemplates, “Could that be a friend?” (Line 30).The tiny journalist does her job and does it well, especially considering the resources at her disposal, yet it is also clear that she is a child with dreams and interests appropriate for her age.

An Oppressed Life

Nye’s stance that Palestinians are the oppressed group is clear in “Morning Song.” She provides a glimpse of what they face and what they might be thinking. In the second stanza, her speaker suggests an imprisoning feeling that comes with “soldiers blocking the road” (Line 4). Later, she describes these men’s nighttime activities: “She sees you at 2 a.m. adjusting your / impenetrable vest” (Lines 18-19), suggesting how the soldiers secure their safety and prepare for the potential harm they might inflict in the daytime.

As if she is talking to or even taunting the Israeli officers, the speaker cautions or warns with second-person direct addresses throughout the poem. For example, in the seventh stanza, the speaker says, “She’s bigger than you are” (Line 14). In addition to the words of warning, there are several questions posed throughout the poem as both an observer and as the journalist. In the tenth stanza, the speaker asks, “What could she have / that you want?” (Lines 20-21) Toward the end of the poem, the questions become more pleading and more collective, as the speaker, on behalf of the Palestinian community, seeks common ground or shared humanity with the Israelis: “What was our crime? That we liked / respected as they? That we have pride?” (Lines 33-34) In the third-to-last stanza, Nye writes of the “hole in the fence, / barricade of words and wire” (Lines 35-36)—the physical reminders of the hostility and the destruction of Palestinian lives and freedom that the Palestinian people witness every day.

An Optimistic Outlook

Despite the oppression of day-to-day life, Nye shows hope in the tiny journalist’s activities and in the younger generation’s use of current technology to record and share the reports of observed brutality. The speaker seems to heighten and, in some cases, hyperbolize the journalist’s capabilities in order to forecast a favorable prognosis: “[She] feels the rising fire / before anyone strikes a match” (Lines 37-38). The language displays the immense nature of everything, suggesting the journalist’s confidence when she, “Holds [her phone] high / like a balloon” (Lines 6-7) and how “From her vantage point everything / is huge” (Line 12-13). Even the dirtiest or lowest of things can have a positive impact on her efforts: “She takes counsel from bugs so / puffs of dust find her first” (Lines 28-29).

Amidst the bullet holes and barricades keeping the Palestinians down and out, Nye utilizes Ayyad and others like her as symbolic of hope for the future: “She has a better idea” (Line 39). This final line holds the tone that lingers with readers. Nye does not elaborate on what the idea is, but she knows ideas are brewing and that one has to stick at some point—perhaps in Ayyad’s lifetime if not Nye’s. This last line of the poem seems to connect back to what Nye mentions earlier as Ayyad’s dream: She “would prefer the world / to be pink” (Lines 9-10). If Ayyad does, in fact, have a better idea, then perhaps the world would display more of a pink hue.