Crossing Bodily Borders in Poetry

For this Thursday (3/7), students will interpret ONE of Natalie Diaz’s poems, “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation,” or “My Brother at 3 A.M., according to her understanding of poetry as an embodied practice.  In a 2018 interview (see below), Diaz writes that her poetry aims “to return back to the body because as an indigenous person, as a Latina, as a queer woman, I haven’t been given the permission or the space, to be fully in my body.”

Given the issues raised in her interview, how do specific elements in her poems signal a return to the body for the poet-speaker and others like her?  Explain how these poems accommodate social identities that have been marginalized or silenced. Please categorize under “Border Crossings” and don’t forget to create specific and relevant tags. And please include your full name!  The blog post is due by this Thursday (3/7) 11:00am.

For the full Diaz interview, click this link http://archive.sampsoniaway.org/blog/2018/02/22/back-to-the-body-an-interview-with-natalie-diaz/

The Devil Inside Us?

In both poems, Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation and My Brother at 3 A.M., written by Natalie Diaz depict the harsh experiences that the indegenous had to go through. The one I decided to focus on was, My Brother at 3. A.M. 

In My Brother at 3 A.M., the poem revolves around a mother being awaken by her weeping son on her doorstep. There is constant repetition of “He sat cross-legged, weeping on the steps/

when Mom unlocked and opened the front door” and the time of it taking place at 3 A.M. Diaz conveys imagery by using diction on describing the brother’s “lips [that] flickered with sores.” The connection between the lips and the mom asking the brother “on what [is he] on” clearly displays that there is some drug abuse going on. It’s been known for a while that the Indigenous people abuse alcohol and drugs to cope with their past experiences, the stress and living situations.

Reflecting on Diaz’s 2018 interview, and her reflection of not having the ability to “be fully in [her] body” relates to the brother in the poem. The brother did not have permission to fully experience his body, allowing the drug to take over his body. Adding on, the time 3 A.M., is also known for it to be the “Devil’s Hour,” where spirit entities and demons alert humans that their presence is here. The brother perhaps thought he was seeing the devil, but in reality is his mind playing tricks on him.

What really stood out to me was the ending. Where the mother realizes that she’s looking at the “hellish vision” of her son.

Evelyn Hernandez

The Angels of Death

The poems presented to us by Natalie Diaz go a long way in conveying the under representation of the indigenous peoples and Latina community as a whole. The poem that I believe best executes this call for more representation is the one entitled “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation”. This piece of literature uses the symbol of “angels” which refers to the biased society we live in today and how the “white rich man” is still in charge in the most obvious ways. When Diaz talks about coming back into her body she is really referencing her culture and how it was stripped from her and how writing these poems and learning more about her customs has helped her come back into her indigenous background. 

When Diaz states that “Angels don’t come to the reservation” (line 1) she’s really talking about how nobody really talks about how indigenous people have suffered throughout the years and that nobody really cares. In many religions angels represent hope and light and the fact that Diaz talks about never seeing them speaks volumes to how much good she sees within the reservation. Although she talks about never seeing angels, the author in no way sounds envious or jealous of that fact, since it is clear that she believes angels have no place in a reservation. This idea is best represented by the quote “Remember what happened last time some white god came floating across the ocean” (lines 18-19), which is meant to represent the destruction and conquering of native American lands during the 1500’s. This is why Diaz talks about coming back into her body, since her culture and land was ripped from her and her ancestors in a way that it is almost impossible to fully gain it back again.

Jamey Cain

I Still Know Who I Am

Diane Tarabay-Rodriguez 

In an interview, Natalie Diaz raises many issues that are faced by indigenous people like herself. She talks about the oppression that she has experienced. She describes the embodied experience of poetry as the transmission of energy from one’s body into paper. Through poetry, she is able to release her emotional energy. She mentions that she is always trying to return to the body because she feels that she hasn’t been given the opportunity to be who she really is due to all the oppression she faces as an Indigenous, Latina and queer woman.

In her poem, “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Reservation”, Diaz gives a reflection to the past when white men wiped Native Americans out of their land. At first, the white men seemed to be angels who had come to help, but instead they brought diseases, destruction and death. The settlers had brought in diseases that lead to about 90% of Native Americans dying. Diaz also refers back to the Trail of Tears when she mentions, “You better hope you never see angels on the rez. If you do, they’ll be marching you off to Zion or Oklahoma…”(32-34). She also mentions that the men also tried to convert Natives into white men. There came a point where they completely destroyed the Native American culture that was rich in ancestry, stories and culture. Many tribe leaders were killed which made it easy for many young Natives to mix into the American culture. Throughout the whole poem, the poet tried to make the reader recall the past. Hinting at the fact that history repeats itself, and we cannot allow it to happen again. In lines 1-4, she mentions that the angels meant death so they shouldn’t be allowed into the reservation. On lines 30-31, she talks about how it’s better if the “Angels” stay rich, fat and ugly in heaven.

Given the issue raised in her interview, there are specific elements in her poem that signal a return to the body for herself and for others like her. For example, she is basically taking back her identity and transmitting her emotional energy throughout the whole poem. I could clearly feel her anger and anguish while reading. She is reclaiming her body through every line. Her poems do a great job at accommodating social identities that have been marginalized or silenced because her words are empowering and care free from judgment. A lot of people get so caught up with the noise of society to the point where they forget who they are. Diaz gives her readers a chance to return to their body by allowing them to take the first step of pausing and self-reflecting.