{"product_id":"red-suitcase-poems-3","title":"Red Suitcase Poems","description":"Poet, teacher, essayist, anthologist, songwriter and singer, \u003cb\u003eNaomi Shihab Nye\u003c\/b\u003e is one of the country's most acclaimed writers. Her voice is generous; her vision true; her subjects ordinary people, and ordinary situations which, when rendered through her language, become remarkable. In this, her fourth full collection of poetry, we see with new eyes-a grandmother's scarf, an alarm clock, a man carrying his son on his shoulders.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eValentine for Ernest Mann\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e You can't order a poem like you order a taco.\u003cbr\u003e Walk up to the counter and say, \"I'll take two\"\u003cbr\u003e and expect it to handed back to you\u003cbr\u003e on a shiny plate.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Still, I like you spirit.\u003cbr\u003e Anyone who says, \"Here's my address,\u003cbr\u003e write me a poem,\" deserves something in reply.\u003cbr\u003e So I'll tell a secret instead:\u003cbr\u003e poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,\u003cbr\u003e they are sleeping. They are the shadows\u003cbr\u003e drifting across our ceilings the moment\u003cbr\u003e before we wake up. What we have to do\u003cbr\u003e is live in a way that lets us find them.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Once I knew a man who gave his wife\u003cbr\u003e two skunks for a valentine.\u003cbr\u003e He couldn't understand why she was crying.\u003cbr\u003e \"I thought they had such beautiful eyes.\"\u003cbr\u003e And he was serious. He was a serious man\u003cbr\u003e who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly\u003cbr\u003e just because the world said so. He really\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eliked\u003c\/i\u003e those skunks. So, he re-invented them\u003cbr\u003e as valentines and they became beautiful.\u003cbr\u003e At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding\u003cbr\u003e in the eyes of skunks for centuries\u003cbr\u003e crawled out and curled up at his feet.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us\u003cbr\u003e we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock\u003cbr\u003e in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.\u003cbr\u003e And let me know.","brand":"OUATB","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48667437924607,"sku":"*R0124843*","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0487\/5550\/7364\/files\/12079553482857_b68940af-bb71-4588-adbe-7b8d816b6c65.jpg?v=1781291546","url":"https:\/\/shop.onceuponatimebooks.com\/products\/red-suitcase-poems-3","provider":"Once Upon a Time Books AR","version":"1.0","type":"link"}