Sifter

Posted on by Live & Learn

When our English teacher gave
our first writing invitation of the year,
Become a kitchen implement
in 2 descriptive paragraphs, I did not think
butcher knife or frying pan,
I thought immediately
of soft flour showering through the little holes
of the sifter and the sifter’s pleasing circular
swishing sound, and wrote it down.
Rhoda became a teaspoon,
Roberto a funnel,
Jim a muffin tin
and Forrest a soup pot.
We read our paragraphs out loud.
Abby was a blender. Everyone laughed
and acted giddy but the more we thought about it,
we were all everything in the whole kitchen,
drawers and drainers,
singing teapot and grapefruit spoon
with serrated edges, we were all the
empty cup, the tray.
This, said our teacher, is the beauty of metaphor.
It opens doors.
What I could not know then
was how being a sifter
would help me all year long.
When bad days came
I would close my eyes and feel them passing
through the tiny holes.
When good days came
I would try to contain them gently
the way flour remains
in the sifter until you turn the handle.
Time, time. I was a sweet sifter in time
and no one ever knew.

— Naomi Shihab Nye, “Sifter.” In “A Maze Me: Poems for Girls.” (Greenwillow Books, May 26, 2015)

Notes: Portrait via The Watermill Center. Poem via please, keep me in mind

31 thoughts on “Sifter”

    2. That’s the most interesting interview question I’ve ever heard of! Would you be willing to share some more about some answers + corresponding personality traits? I’m so curious now haha.

      1. I don’t remember them all anymore, and there was no right or wrong answer. If someone said they would be a whisk it could mean they were a good team player and mixed in well with everyone. That sort of thing.

        1. That is so interesting and unique (to me at least, never heard of this before). Thanks for sharing 🙂 Now I’ve got to figure out what kitchen implement I am, haha.

  6. One of my favourite poets. Though I have this book of poems, it does good to read this particular poem in a different context, on its own. Thanks, David. All good things in 2024. ❤️

    1. Thanks Sharon. Happy New Year to you and your family. BTW, because of your PT advocacy, it’s been over a year now and largely free of lower back pain and sciatica. I have you to thank and I’m grateful. Thank you. Dave

  10. I’ve liked that in the past you’ve shared works of Naomi Shihab Nye. The way her mind works, gives such an interesting perspective…if I would have been in school with her and had that assignment I would have not followed the guideline and I would have been the collector of smells aloft and savorier of bites of food that would have been made using all the ingredient those kitchen implement came in contact with, mixing & then in time the cooking, baking & gracing of palate…Kindly, Christie

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