Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Naomi Shihab Nye’s "From This Distance" is a fragmented yet deeply evocative meditation on memory, mental illness, and longing. The poem operates in the space between past and present, shifting between moments of intimacy and estrangement, between observation and interpretation. Through a series of vivid, often surreal images, Nye explores the distance—both literal and emotional—between the speaker and a man whose schizophrenia shapes the way he moves through the world.

The opening line introduces a moment of vulnerability: “He would take a small folded paper from his pocket— / ‘I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia’—” The phrase is stark and declarative, yet its impact is softened by the personal context that follows: “the same moment you wanted to kiss him.” The juxtaposition of a medical disclosure and an act of affection underscores the complexity of the relationship—how love and mental illness exist in the same space, how revelation and desire can collide. The moment suggests an intimacy that is at once profound and unreachable, as if the diagnosis forms a barrier between them.

The poem then turns toward the enigmatic: “What was he wringing in his hands all those years?” The question is both literal and metaphorical, implying the tension, anxiety, and inner turmoil that marked his existence. This is followed by a surreal image: “The chicken refused to smoke a cigarette.” The line disrupts the emotional weight of the previous passage, injecting an absurdity that feels both humorous and unsettling. It might serve as a metaphor for resistance—an unwillingness to conform to expectations, to perform normalcy, or to accept imposed roles.

Nye continues with a seemingly unrelated observation: “Seven white stones circled a thistle.” The specificity of seven suggests ritual or fate, while the thistle—often a symbol of resilience or hardship—stands at the center. The circular arrangement hints at containment, perhaps the way society encircles and isolates those who struggle with mental illness. The speaker’s tone remains detached yet deeply engaged, offering images that are emotionally charged without direct explanation.

The poem shifts again to the speaker’s personal yearning: “You would have gone with him, / but he climbed a high fence.” The fence becomes both a literal and figurative boundary. It suggests an act of escape, of moving beyond reach, reinforcing the central theme of distance. The Y in the road that follows symbolizes a choice—one that may have separated them or determined their divergent paths.

The scattered images in the next lines evoke nostalgia and loss: “Red checkered jacket draped / over picnic table.” The visual of an abandoned jacket suggests absence, a life once shared but now distant. “Arrangement of broken bottles / in the doorway of the Paris Hatters.” The mention of a specific store gives the memory a grounding in reality, but the broken bottles add a sense of fragmentation and disorder, reinforcing the instability present throughout the poem.

The final stanza shifts towards language itself, as the man “would take a word and remove its shirt.” This line is striking in its tenderness and complexity. It suggests a deep, almost obsessive attention to language, a stripping down to its essence. The metaphors continue: “The open heart of the o, the wink of an e, / the long trapped mystery of the crossed t.” These descriptions humanize letters, turning them into symbols of emotion and meaning, much like how schizophrenia alters perception—turning language, gestures, and objects into things loaded with hidden significance.

The last image is both poignant and haunting: “And the squirrel gathering what it needed, / scrambling high into the branches, / dropping shells on his face / as he stood under the tree looking up.” The man is stationary, looking upward, while the squirrel moves above him, scattering fragments—perhaps pieces of understanding, of memory, of meaning. The image evokes a sense of longing, of being left behind, of searching for something just out of reach.

"From This Distance" does not offer resolution. It remains open-ended, its meaning shaped by scattered moments and layered imagery. The poem captures the nature of memory as fractured and nonlinear, mirroring the way the mind holds onto and reshapes past experiences. Through its use of surreal elements, unexpected juxtapositions, and tender observations, the poem becomes a meditation on connection, mental illness, and the ways in which love, even when distant, continues to haunt and shape the speaker’s consciousness.

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