My Uncle’s Favorite Coffee Shop

“My Uncle’s Favorite Coffee Shop” focuses on the experience of a man, likely from Palestine, who immigrated to the United States where he lives for 23 years before returning home. Nye uses the uncle figure to examine the immigrant experience in the United States, showing the small difficulties and pleasures often unnoticed by the rest of the culture. She begins with the notion of belonging, expressing the comfort her uncle feels in being “known personally” (Line 2) by the barista at the coffeeshop. Nye focuses on a specific, small occurrence: “What pleasure for an immigrant— / anything without saying” (Lines 6-7), asking the reader to consider a daily interaction—like purchasing breakfast—from the perspective of a non-native speaker. In these lines, Nye conveys the anxiety and relief of being in a country where the spoken language is not one’s first, and the sense of relief at not having to speak it in a small, everyday scenario.

Although the ritual of frequenting this shop provides the uncle with a sense of comfort and belonging, Nye notes later in the poem that “he never became them” (Line 27), referencing the other patrons of the shop. She writes, “[i]mmigrants had double and nothing all at once.