The Repeating of History

From the interview, there were two aspects that stuck out, one was the idea that to return to the body and to embrace it is to be able to achieve and feel pleasure, and the other method of returning to one’s body would be by being willing to put oneself in an uncomfortable situation and talk about certain topics and have an uncomfortable outcome or possibly have a joyful outcome. This seems to strike true when looking at Diaz’s poem “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation,” as she willingly talks about the toxic relationship that exists on the Indian rezervation. The imagery that Diaz uses when describing the angels since “everyone knows angels are white” and have wings. In this aspect she creates the illusion of purity and divinity, and yet when the image of wings is held up for the people of the reservation, it becomes demoted to a sign of negligence and impurity. While the angels are divine, the natives just use the wings to become “jailbirds” and have “kids grow like gourds from women’s bellies.” This illustrates how exactly the natives have had their identities morphed and twisted in order for them to be seemingly depraved, and in the process uplift the one’s who live outside the valley of death.
By taking this opportunity to compare the two group, Diaz as she put it in the interview, counciousy put herself in an uncomfortable situation, especially after criticizing the so called angels since “[they]’re better off if [the angels] stay rich and fat and ugly and / ’xactly where they are—in their own distant heavens” rather than encroaching upon more of the reservation land. She puts herself in the limelight in order to spread the word to those in her community to exercise caution since if they are not weary then “[the angles will] be marching you off to / Zion or Oklahoma, or some other hell they’ve mapped out for [them].”

Isaac Ruiz

Only in Death

Within “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation,” the poet, Natalie Diaz, rejects colonization’s ideals and utilizes irony in order to fully show how she is returning to her own body. Diaz, throughout the poem, uses “angels” as a way to characterize white men and women, but ironically states that angels are “no good for Indians.” Generally, angels are associated with heaven, a good place, a divine presence– Diaz, instead, rejects the angels, the supposed divine presence. Through the irony of rejecting something traditionally “good,” Diaz makes room for Native Americans, rejecting white culture in religion. The irony creates a powerful message of Diaz would rather rot in Hell than be subject to their white colonizers, and that she would rather just be herself, with her past and culture, than subject to a culture imposed upon them.

Further, since Native Americans have been moreover silenced and tried to be erased, Diaz, in her rejection of white culture and religion through a rejection of angels, helps to fully push out the white influence to leave room once more for Native American culture. Diaz states that “we’re better off if they stay […] in their own distant heavens,” directly giving a call to action, where once again, irony takes its part, as Diaz seeks to keep a supposedly good thing as far away as possible; this just makes her point even clearer, however, as she seeks to reclaim herself, no matter the supposed cost, and further, she pushes white imposition so far away, that it’s inaccessible unless she’s in a grave, leaving all the room for the living, or rather, for Native Americans. The utilization of heaven seeks to show that Diaz sees white imposition as far away as possible, letting Native Americans know that there is a place for them, and that their colonizers can’t come back, as they’re already dead. It’s a signal to return to how they were before colonization, as the white man cannot touch them anymore– they’re gone, dead, and there’s all the more room for them to be themselves now; if the white man is residing with angels in heaven, then Native Americans are able to roam the Earth freely, as only in death will the white man rule over them.

Isaak Puth

The Demon Within

“My Brother at 3 A.M.” is a thrilling poem by Natalie Diaz. The situation follows her brother and his fear of being killed by the devil. However, there is an underlying metaphor at play here. The hallucination of the devil is acting as the embodiment of her brother’s anxiety. The repetition of the phrase “He wants to kill me” shows that the brother is being festered by an intrusive thought. This could be a literal fear, that the devil is really after him, or it could be referring to the anxiety he is feeling. By having the brother repeat this phrase, it is clear that circular thoughts are happening within his mind which could be associated with anxiety. Another line that stood out to me was line 22, “His lips flicked with sores,” (Diaz). When people have anxiety, they might fidget or pick at something to try and cope. For the brother, it seems that he might be biting or licking his lips, which creates the sores the speaker describes. The mom could not pick up on her son’s anxieties until she noticed the sores on his lips. Those sores indicated that he was feeling anxious and after seeing them she, “saw it, a hellish vision, [the] brother,” (Line 30).

I think this poem represents a return to the body because Diaz is using language and metaphor to represent the anxieties she has felt in her own life. While the brother sees the devil as his anxieties, the mom sees that the devil is her son; his anxieties are destroying him. The devil is a scary, fearful figure. Having the brother see the devil as his anxieties, it gives his anxiety an awful face and can explain why he is up so late with sores around his lips. The devil, or his anxiety, is eating him away. The mother does not see this devil hallucination, but she sees her own son as the devil since it is his anxiety that has caused him so much fear. The return to the body in this poem is literal because, until the last stanza, the reader is led to believe in this hallucination of the devil. We are looking outward for this devil before being forced to confront that the devil is actually within.

By: Tierney Bowden

Repenting on Past and Present Guilt

Alondra Garcia

Natalie Diaz poem cleverly embodies the aspects that addiction takes hold on a person upon the body, mind and soul. The speaker does this through the usage of metaphor and imagery of the devil as the embodiment of addiction being represented in the brothers life as a showcase of the reality of what it is doing to him. It also showcases the after effects of centuries long colonialism and Orthodox Christianity have on Native Americans. Within history we’ve seen how through colonialism and Christianity has taken a toll among Native American groups. This poem externalizes such struggles caused to this group in ways of showing the pain, anxiety and troubles that some families go through. 

Within history we see how due to colonization many Native Americans are more likely to fall to addiction whether it be drugs or most notably to alcohol. This poem perfectly portrays the spiritual and mental toll that is taken from these people, specifically seen within the poem when the brother is within the state of hysteria saying he “sees the devil”. Then we have when the brother says, “O God, see the tail, he said. Look at the goddamned tail. He sat cross-legged, weeping on the front steps.” He goes through this externalized hallucination we also see a how religious guilt plays a part into the brothers addiction. Throughout the poem we see him mention “O God” many times tying back to that religious guilt within Christianity for those who have been colonized and reformed into this religion from their spiritual roots.

            These aspects can be tied back to the poet-speaker raising the question on the return to the body being brought forward by the marginalized and silenced. She is bringing forward the voice of those that have undergone, either currently or in the past, such horrific type of trauma. She is also returning to the  body by the way that the brother goes back home, it gives kind of the imagery of returning to their roots when he goes back home and is greeted by his mother. This sense of returning home is a means of healing or at least trying to heal the body and through that the spirit, which in Native culture is tied together as one. She does very well to go back to that through, again, the imagery being related between the mother and son. Their familial dynamic seen also shows the foundation of colonialism has set into these dynamics, too often we see the older generation brush these delicate cases under the rug, but here it is being thrown into their faces forcing the mother and the audience of the divide that long ago was created and settled here. 

Within the body

Natalie Diaz stated in her Sampsonia Way 2018 interview that: “I am trying always 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” Diaz places an importance on the inner body and the ability to return to it after not being given the opportunity prior, and that importance is showcased throughout “My brother at 3 A.M” . The poem revolves around the speaker’s brother, who returns home to talk to their mother, afraid of a demon-like figure that follows him and threatens his life. “He wants to kill me, he told her, looking over his shoulder.” (lines 7-8) This threatening figure whom the mother cannot see at first, leading the audience to understand that this figure is a mere hallucination. Ultimately being revealed that the figure is simply himself within the final stanza. 

It’s this poem that beautifully showcases Diaz’s view on the return to the body, and its necessity, even during more difficult times. “How can I constantly return to the body, even when it’s uncomfortable” The brother’s devil-like figure is simply his internal struggle, as he fights within himself, as his soul attempts to destroy his body.  Showcasing the importance of returning to the body, to confront these attempts and struggles, no matter how uncomfortable one might feel doing so. Diaz’s work also helps bring into light these internal issues that are rarely spoken about, oftentimes those struggling choosing to remain silent, with these communities not used to speaking out and discussing these issues and doubts they face. In this way My brother at 3 A.M serves as a perfect way for others to be fully within their own body.

– Eduardo Ojeda Jr

Confronting the Devil

My Brother at 3 A.M.

By Natalie Diaz 

The poem I selected was “My Brother at 3 A.M.” written by Natalie Diaz, which talks about the want as well as the sense of being in your own body. Diaz’s brother appears to be talking to their mother who can see the devil who wishes to kill him, although this appears to be something that his mother cannot see in the beginning. At the beginning of the poem Diaz appears to instantly go to her brother and the situation at hand, in which he seems to be hallucinating. When reading this poem I felt that this poem could be interpreted in many ways, it could be viewed as Diaz drawing attention away from herself or simply her brother. It seems as if the mother initially was unaware of the so-called “demon” although she eventually comes to the realization that there actually is a demon and she becomes more and more concerned about the demon. “O God, O God” (Diaz Line 28), In this quote it appears as if the mother is finally understanding what her own son is seeing. 

There is repetition in this quote, “ The sky wasn’t black or blue but the green of a dying night” (Diaz Line 14), which emphasizes his hallucination as well as the main thing that he focuses on or that he can focus on. In that quote I also noticed the use of symbolism, “ The sky wasn’t black or blue” (Diaz Line 14), a green sky can symbolize his hallucinations. I also noticed a personification, “His lips flickered with sores”(Diaz Line 20), his lips aren’t actually able to flicker although Diaz attempts to describe how bad his sores were through the word “flickered”. Once again I noticed the use of personification within this quote, “ Stars had closed their eyes or sheathed their knives.”,(Diaz Line 18) The hallucination implies that the stars are getting dim, sheathing their knives means the glare that one gets from them which appears to be spikes or as if the knives disappear. Throughout this quote, I noticed lots of areas for dissection as I felt that the poem could actually be interpreted in lots of ways, although I decided to interpret it from the standpoint of Diaz’s brother seeing “demons” and her mother slowly begins to notice the same figures.

Yue Wu-Jamison

Justice Waiting to be Served

Natalie Diaz’s work, “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation,” illustrates the harsh treatment and injustices that Native Americans faced during their forced assimilation into white culture. With the use of irony, symbolism, and a sarcastic, yet serious tone evoking a range of different intensive emotions, the speaker is able to share her/his perspective of the social and racial situations Native Americans have and had to go through, spreading the word to others who may not even know of these issues, finally allowing those long-hushed social identities to be heard.

Diaz’s poem is an abecedarian poem. It consists of 26 lines and starts with a word beginning with the word ‘Angel’ and ending with the last line beginning with the word ‘Zion’ just like the ABC’s. She used this poem structure as a crafty way to specify the social injustices Native Americans experience. How though? Along with the poem’s structure, she includes irony and symbolism regarding ‘angels’ (Diaz, Line 1) “whites’ (Diaz, Line 20) and ‘death’ (Diaz, Line 4). She sarcastically states that “everyone knows angels are white”. Though this is quite a very strong generalization, her point was to demonstrate how ironic it was that the white, Christian people considered themselves as “saviors” and “civilized” while they forced their Catholic and Christian beliefs upon the Native Americans in a very inhumane, grotesque way, killing many. That completely takes away the idea of hope, faith, and salvation, what resulted is genocide and death. This is how angels connect back to death in Diaz’s poem. The speaker mentioned, “Angels don’t come to the reservation. Bats, maybe, or owls, boxy mottled things. Coyotes, too. They all mean the same thing—death.” (Diaz, Line 1-3)

In Catholicism (from personal knowledge being in the religion myself), angels are perceived as “guardians” and “protectors from evils”. The natives were forced to believe that their saviors were the white men. They were forced to believe that they were the savages whereas those who were white and Christian were civilized and there to save them. But then, where were those “angels” when thousands of indigenous people were being killed, raped, assaulted, and oppressed? Again, angels are seen as these helpful spiritual beings, but instead of getting help, Native Americans got tortured, suffering and their land stolen. With that combination of irony and symbolism regarding “angels”, “death” and “white men” the speaker managed to demonstrate the oppression Native Americans had to endure. This is something that is still being fought to this day. With a cautionary tone, the speaker ends the poem with, “You better hope you never see angels on the rez. If you do, they’ll be marching you off to Zion or Oklahoma, or some other hell they’ve mapped out for us.” (Diaz, Line 32-35) This imposes the fact that the social issues Native Americans went through centuries ago are issues that are still currently happening. The speaker is referring to a “You” from the looks of it, she/he is speaking to those who are in the reservations, this is what she means with, “If you do, they’ll be marching you off to Zion or Oklahoma, or some other hell they’ve mapped out for us.” I believe that the first-person-point of view makes it easier for Diaz to reach out to a certain audience. The personal narrative provides a deeper understanding of what the speaker’s thoughts or feelings were about the issues being touched upon. From the tone of voice and feelings given by the speaker, I thought the main audience were those silenced Native Americans. In some way, the speaker is trying to be persuasive. By reaching out in a first-person point of view and mentioning “us”, there’s a sense of inclusion. When I read the last line of the poem, I felt like the message was, “Hey you’re not alone, keep your head up!” I’m sure this is the type of message would be considered motivational or positive to the indiginious people who have suffered greatly while living in these reservations.

Overall, with the publication of this poem, Natalie Diaz surely managed to speak for perhaps hundreds or thousands of Native Americans, who are currently in these reservations by frustratingly expressing her opinions and thoughts on the whole context of the Indigenous constantly going through cultural, social, and racial brutalities and unfairness. This is how the poem accommodates social identities that have been marginalized or silenced.

Devil’s Hallucinations

I believe the best poem that raised the elements of a return to the body for the poet-speaker was “My Brother at 3 A.M.” Firstly, this poem captured what it meant for wanting to return to being in your own body, in other words wanting to be yourself, but it becomes an issue because of the many obstacles that occur in life. Natalie Diaz’s poem portrayed hallucinations as demonic. Throughout the poem Diaz’s brother was telling their mother that he sees this devil who wants to kill him, unfortunately the mother couldn’t see what his son was referring to in the beginning. The hallucinations were referring to the body in which at that moment the brother was in an unknown place, and not in his right set of mind. According to the poem on lines 25-7 it states, “O God, see the tail, he said. Look at the goddamned tail. He sat cross-legged, weeping on the front steps. Mom finally saw it, a hellish vision, my brother.” The mother was finally able to see the devil. Only it was a horrific sight because she was able to truly see for what her son was, an addict. The devil who wants to kill him is actually himself, he wants to kill himself for the many addictions he had encountered. In other words, the hallucinations of the devil was a battle within himself and his body, committing sins.

 Furthermore, the brother’s image that is identified in this poem is an addict. I believe that in today’s world addictions aren’t taken seriously which leads to many decisions of having addictions as the solution. Although this issue is seen as a less talkative topic, Natalie Diaz stated in an interview, “It’s interesting to think about silence as being a type of speaking, and maybe even a more important type of speaking.” I thought this to be impactful because even if a topic were to be silenced or not brought up, silence is what speaks the most out of someone, just as the saying actions speak louder than words. Both silence and actions are really great references to making something meaningful or inadequate in someone’s life, which leads me to my next point. The body is used as an example for this poem as silenced. The brother’s body was a use of desire and sinful acts in which he no longer is fully in his body. Part of this is from the anxiety given from the many addictions. Just as in the poem the brother sounds terrified and anxious looking at the devil or himself. In the interview Diaz states, “But I am wondering if anxiety in some ways is just my body in the wrong place.” As I mentioned earlier, the brother was not in his right mind which caused him the hallucinations from his addiction(s). So him being in the wrong place through the stress, just as Diaz going through anxiety in her life, gives her the realization of the body not being in her true form. She is unable to express that being a Latina and queer woman is under the anxiety of the world of not fully being one with herself.

Celeste Tejeda-Menera

To focus on myself

In a 2018 interview, Natalie Diaz said, “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.” She declared that she would no longer focus on external voices judging her, but rather concentrate on her inner self and her essence. It’s time to look at how her determination is manifested in ‘My Brother at 3 A.M.’

In the overall context of the poem, there is no defined ‘I’ as a character. Therefore, one might argue that there is also no speaker, but through the title ‘My Brother,’ it could be interpreted that the poem is about the speaker observing their brother and family. On a superficial level, the poem portrays the speaker’s brother feeling that a ‘demon’ is approaching him. And while the mother remains unaware of this, she eventually realizes it as the demon comes closer at the end.

However, considering an interview Natalie gave, this poem could be interpreted differently. Again, in the interview, she aimed to focus on her essence. In this view, the demon approaching the brother in the poem could be seen as external factors, namely external gazes, preventing Natalie from focusing on herself. Natalie is Latina and a queer woman. She knows herself very well. And she strives to focus on her essence and the voices within herself. However, there is a looming demon. It could be the “gaze” of people or the ‘words’ they say to her. Initially, like the ‘mother’ in the poem, she might not have noticed this demon. But she is aware of it in her mind, the subconscious, represented by the ‘brother,’ screams as the demon approaches. When she couldn’t fully focus on her essence, she would have considered about others’ thoughts or gazes. And subconsciously, it is appeared in the actions of the ‘mother’ in the poem. The ‘mother’ in the poem remains unaware of the approaching demon. However eventually, she realizes consciously and subconsciously that she continues to be concerned about the external gazes and thoughts disguised as demons.

How might she have reacted upon realizing the external demon? This could be understood from an interview she gave in 2018. She will strive even harder to focus on the voices she hears within her mind and her essence. As a Latina, as a queer woman, there may be times when she feels uneasy and unable to focus on herself. During those times, she may see the ‘demon’ lurking in front of her again. However, despite that, continuing to focus on herself until the end is what she truly considers important.

Jisoo Jang

A new challenger has appeared!

The process of gentrifying existing communities allows for mass amounts of people to be displaced without their consent. Once city officials decide that a neighborhood needs to be upgraded for economical reasons, residents of that neighborhood are forced to leave their homes. This is because the upgrading that is happening is converting residential areas into commercial areas in low income neighborhoods where residents do not have a say or financial power to tell the city otherwise. Poet Antonio Lopez is one of many victims of gentrification, and illustrates its complications in his book of poetry Gentrification. One particular example, Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army, uses unique poetic elements two discuss his experiences with the topic. Similar to Natalie Diaz’ Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Reservation, Lopez attempts to challenge traditional poetry and creates an obvious disconnect in familiar themes. 

In her poem, Diaz plays with the traditional symbols of angels and Heaven, manipulating their importance through her poetry to achieve a definition opposite of it’s typical meaning. By the end of her work she successfully replaces these traditional religious symbols of angels and heaven into devils for hell through situational irony. While Antonio Lopez may not experiment with the exact same themes or topics, he manages to create a similar disconnect using his phone devices and themes of his work Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army. One of the most striking examples to me was on line 4 where the speaker states; “The Amazon logo smirks above me like a biblical cloud”. Here Lopez challenges traditional religious symbols by explaining the Amazon logo sign as a religious or biblical figure in itself and a satirical way. This is very similar to Diaz’ efforts in her work. The final line of the poem, “And so father cradled my head inside asphalt, Prayed for our rite to simply wade”. This challenges traditional religious symbols as instead of father blessing him in a church or temple. Instead he is blessed inside asphalt which is typically used to construct roads and challenges traditional religious symbols as instead of father blessing him in a church or temple, he is blessed inside asphalt which is typically used to construct roads, being the physically the lowest point of society. This is to create a juxtaposition between heaven, which is itself supposed to be viewed as ascended or high in the sky, completely opposite of a dirty asphalt road. Additionally, he is also depicted praying for the right to Wade which is the antithesis of the way one might righteously fly or run to freedom. Overall, we can see that Lopez uses his poetry to challenge traditional uses in poetry in attempts to illustrate gentrification, similar to how Natalie Diaz challenges traditional aspects of poetry to illustrate the mistreatment of Native Americans on their own land.