Summary Of Burning The Old Year By Naomi Shihab Nye

224 Words1 Pages
In Naomi Shihab Nye's poem "Burning the Old Year," I infer that the speaker feels that the past is flammable and that the new year is for change. I infer this from the keywords used in stanzas 1-3, such as "sizzle," "flammable," and "absence." These words are used to describe the old year, suggesting that things from the past will be absent in the future and will be like a flame that changes and is gone when something is put into it. Things from the past will be absent in your life in the future and will be like a flame with something put into it, which the item changes over time. This ties to the future in which I believe that the speaker’s perspective of the future is that it is meant to change. This can be referenced in stanza 4; which