Note #1

A teacher asked Paul
what he would remember
from third grade, and he sat
a long time before writing
"this year somebody tutched me
on the sholder"
and turned his paper in.
Later she showed it to me
as an example of her wasted life.
The words he wrote were large
as houses in a landscape.
He wanted to go inside them
and live, he could fill in
the windows of "o" and "d"
and be safe while outside
birds building nests in drainpipes
knew nothing of the coming rain.

-- Naomi Shihab Nye

In Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Rain”, the short, sweet, and simple elegance delineates the underlying symbolism and foreshadowing of the oncoming threat and adversity.  The ignorant spelling and gargantuan letters of the young boy’s written response to his teacher’s question not only characterize him as a tenderly innocent, but they also emphasize his malleability.  The boy’s deeply considered, profound answer presents the importance of an event as insignificant as a simple gesture while exposing his heart-wrenching neglect. The teacher’s pity and self-focus on her “wasted life” blind her from the boy’s desire for attention and necessity of affection.  The teacher’s intent and vigorous focus on leading her students to successful futures canopies the extent of her student’s suffering and his cry for help.  The seemingly tragic misunderstanding between the suffering boy and frustrated teacher shines a satirical light on self-centered society.  The rain serves as a festering, unavoidable omen of the boy’s heavy burden.  The boy’s desire for the comforting protection and relieving security of the houses reveals his desperate search for a non-existent refuge from the rain.  The unaware bliss of the busy birds creates a sense of an impenetrable barrier separating the boy and his stormy life from the whirlwind society.  The rain foreshadows an unavoidable coming threat; it’s almost as if he can see it in the distance but not taste, feel, or hear it.  Like a boulder hanging by a thread, all the boy can do is watch and wait for the “coming rain” to attack and completely engulf his life, mind, body, and soul while the oblivious others tragically watch from the sidelines.