PROBLEMS WITH THE STORY BY NAOMI SHIHAB NYE

The story was too long.

Before you told it, you forgot it.

Before the snake unwound

his infinite body

from around the tree

the head forgot where he was going.

The story had too many beginnings.

If you stepped through a door

twelve others might open.

Did anyone have time?

The story, the story, whose was it?

Did someone else own it too?

The story knotted in the throat of a finch.

Sometimes the story felt cold after you told it.

The story might make his mother nervous.

This was only a translation of the story

I heard through a small crack

while sleeping.

This was not the best story.

Angels and bells did not follow this story

but still, I wanted to tell it.

It was the only chance I had

to find you.

© - Naomi Shihab Nye

• What is the story you want to tell?

• How many beginnings does it have?

• Who will it make nervous?

• Choose one beginning, and start with the words, “This is the story I want to tell…”

• After you have written your story, reflect back on it… why was it important to tell it? Who or what did you discover in the telling? What still needs to be said?