The Rider

“The Rider” was published in Naomi Shihab Nye’s 1998 collection Fuel. The poem is a free verse poem told from both the first person and second person point of view. It considers the abstract topic of escaping or outrunning loneliness. Naomi Shihab Nye is a Palestinian-American poet. She is known for writing poems about multiculturalism, borders, and people of differing religions; her poems are rooted in peace and compassion and tend to offer insight into what it means to be human. An extensive world traveler, Nye’s poems are the product of her travels.

A prolific writer, Nye has published works in nearly every creative literary category including fiction, short stories, translations, anthologies, and children’s literature. As an Arab-American, Nye’s poems offer a voice and perspective about what it means to live as an immigrant in a place other than one’s home country. “The Rider,” being a poem about loneliness, loosely comments on this theme.

Poet Biography

Naomi Shihab Nye (1952) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but spent her time growing up between Ramallah in Palestine, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas. Her father is a Palestinian refugee, and her mother is an American with German and Swiss ancestry. Nye experienced a mixed racial and cultural upbringing, which later influenced her poetry. Nye attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where she earned her BA in English and World Religions.

Nye’s honors, awards, and accolades are extensive. She began publishing poetry in the 1970s with her first two chapbooks: Tattooed Feet in 1977 and Eye-to-Eye in 1978. These two collections are known for “[announcing] Nye as a ‘wandering poet,’ one interested in travel, place, and cultural exchange” (“Naomi Shihab Nye.” Poetry Foundation. poetryfoundation.org). Nye, who still lives in San Antonio today, is curious about mixing cultures, religions, and ideas within her work. In 1980, she published her first full-length collection of poetry, Different Ways to Pray, which focuses on the differences in culture across the Southwest United States, from California to Texas and from South America to Mexico. Nye describes these early collections and poems as inspired by ordinary people, local life, and the connections people share despite cultural or religious differences.

Following the success of her first collection, Different Ways to Pray, Nye published extensively throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 2000s. She is the author of over thirty volumes of poetry and the recipient of many honors including several Pushcart Prizes and a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship. From 2010-2015 she served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Nye’s poems turned to exploring the ongoing tension and violence in the Middle East. Her collections Yellow Glove (1986) and Red Suitcase (1994) include poems that examine and comment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This paved the way for Nye becoming an active voice for Arab Americans following the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. Drawing on her personal experiences as an Arab American, Nye wrote and published the collection 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East in 2002, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is a professor of creative writing at Texas State University.

Poem Text

Shihab Nye, Naomi. “The Rider.” 1998. Library of Congress.

Summary

The speaker opens by stating a recollection. A boy told them “if he roller-skated fast enough / his loneliness couldn't catch up to him” (Lines 2-3). In stanza two, the speaker enters the poem and comments on the boy’s story in the present tense: the boy’s reason for skating fast was “the best reason I ever heard” (Line 4) “for trying to be a champion” (Line 5).

Stanza three continues with the speaker’s thoughts in the present tense. In Line 7, the speaker pedals on a bicycle and moves through space. They wonder if running away from loneliness “translates to bicycles” (Line 8).

The final stanza switches to the second person point-of-view. The speaker tests the boy’s theory and triumphs. They pedal so quickly that loneliness is suddenly “panting behind” (Line 10) “on some street corner” (Line 10). The poem ends as the speaker rushes away on their bike away from loneliness and with the image of “a cloud of sudden azaleas” (Line 11).