 Popsugar Reading Challenge category: A book whose title starts with "Y". You & Yours, by Naomi Shihab Nye. This poetry collection came out in 2005. While the first section, "You," addresses a variety of topics, the second half, "Yours," is mostly focused on the Iraq war. The poems are layered, but speak with ringing clarity. The book begins with "Cross That Line," a poem about radical musician Paul Robeson: What countries may we sing into? What lines should we all be crossing? What songs travel toward us from far away to deepen our days? "Lives of the Women Poets" is a found poem slyly compiled from biographical notes in a women's poetry anthology: Her most famous love conquest was George Bernard Shaw. Her poetry has been subject to a lot of criticism. Her content is not always to today's taste. Her work ought to appear immature, which it does not. Nye, who is Arab-American, speaks of "The Sweet Arab, the Generous Arab," because she fears no one else will. In "During a War," she contemplates a letter offering "best wishes to you& yours:" For a moment I can't fold it up again - where does "yours" end? Dark eyes pleading what could we have done differently? "Peace Pilgrim, You Are Still Walking" begins as a tribute to peace activist Mildred Norman Ryder, but closes with a universal plea: Oh peace. Dear peace. Don't give up on us. Don't leave us stranded, please.
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