Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem "Making a Fist" is a meditation on mortality, resilience, and the passage of time. It captures a childhood moment of fear and vulnerability, transforming it into a lifelong metaphor for survival. The poem’s restrained, evocative language and shifting perspective allow for both immediacy and reflection, as the speaker revisits a lesson learned in a moment of crisis.

The poem opens with a striking confession: "For the first time, on the road north of Tampico, / I felt the life sliding out of me." This immediate confrontation with mortality is unexpected, especially given that the speaker is only seven years old. The phrase "a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear" suggests not only physical weakness but a fading presence, as if the body itself is losing rhythm, becoming distant. The desert setting amplifies the sense of exposure and fragility, a vast and indifferent landscape in which the speaker feels herself slipping away.

The physical distress continues with the image of "palm trees swirl[ing] a sickening pattern past the glass," reinforcing the child’s dizziness and disorientation. The sense of motion—both literal, as they drive north, and figurative, as the speaker drifts toward unconsciousness or fear—creates an unsettling effect. The comparison of her stomach to "a melon split wide inside my skin" is visceral, emphasizing a sense of rupture and helplessness.

Amidst this moment of crisis, the child turns to her mother, asking a question that is both innocent and profound: "How do you know if you are going to die?" The phrasing captures the raw fear of a child trying to grasp the limits of existence, the uncertainty of whether pain or sickness signals something final. The response from the mother is unexpected in its simplicity and certainty: "When you can no longer make a fist." This answer, both practical and poetic, becomes a guiding principle, a measure of strength and survival.

Years later, the speaker reflects on this moment, shifting from the immediate fear of childhood to the broader existential reality of adulthood. "The borders we must cross separately, / stamped with our unanswerable woes" expands the metaphor, suggesting that survival is not just about physical endurance but also about navigating the emotional and psychological challenges of life. The "borders" here are both literal and figurative—perhaps referencing national borders, personal transitions, or the boundary between life and death. The idea that we are all "stamped" with burdens or uncertainties reinforces the universality of struggle.

The poem’s closing lines return to the central gesture: "I who did not die, who am still living, / still lying in the backseat behind all my questions, / clenching and opening one small hand." The repetition of the fist-making action ties the present to the past, demonstrating how this small test of strength remains significant. Even though the speaker has grown, the fundamental uncertainties of life remain—she is still "behind all my questions." The act of clenching and opening her hand is both a reassurance and a reminder, a quiet acknowledgment that resilience is ongoing.

"Making a Fist" is ultimately a poem about endurance, about finding a tangible way to measure one’s ability to persist in the face of fear and uncertainty. Through its careful balance of childhood memory and adult reflection, Naomi Shihab Nye crafts a powerful meditation on what it means to hold on—not just physically, but emotionally, to the will to keep moving forward.

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