When my brother was an Aztec

Summary: "In When My Brother Was An Aztec, Natalie Diaz examines memory's role in human identity. Each section filters memory through specific individuals and settings. The first concentrates on a diabetic grandmother without legs and the landscape, tangible and intangible, of a Native American reservation. The second engages a brother's strife with drug-use and his unraveling of the family, the home. The third grapples with war as a character and its tattering of individuals, families, and communities. Bigotry against Native Americans is confronted throughout the collection, and the speaker's wrestling with identity is carefully woven into each poem. Faithfulness to and departure from tradition and culture are ever-present. Each poem is stitched into the reservation's landscape, while many consider Christian identity. Natalie Diaz experiments with form, from couplets to parts, lists to prose poems, and explores the terrain of poetic predecessors, yet strikes out into new territory, demonstrating her adventurous spirit."--Publisher's description.

Record details

ISBN: 9781556593833
ISBN: 155659383X
Physical Description: print
xiii, 103 pages ; 23 cm
Publisher: Port Townsend, Washington : Copper Canyon Press, [2012]

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

When my brother was an Aztec -- I. Abecedarian requiring further examination of Anglikan seraphym subjugation of a wild Indian rezervation -- Hand-me-down Halloween -- Why I hate raisins -- The red blues -- The gospel of Guy No-Horse -- A woman with no legs -- Tortilla smoke: a genesis -- Reservation Mary -- Cloud watching -- Mercy songs to melancholy -- If Eve Side-Stealer & Mary Busted-Chest ruled the world -- The last Mojave Indian Barbie -- Reservation grass -- Other small thundering -- Jimmy Eagle's hot cowboy boots blues -- The facts of art -- Prayers or oubliettes -- The clouds are buffalo limping toward Jesus -- II. My brother at 3 a.m. -- Zoology -- How to go to dinner with a brother on drugs -- Downhill triolets -- As a consequence of my brother stealling all the lightbulbs -- Formication -- Mariposa nocturna -- Black magic brother -- A brother named Gethsemane -- Soirée fantastique -- No more cake here -- III. I watch her eat an apple -- Toward the Amaranth gates of war and love -- Self-portrait as a chimera -- Dome riddle -- I lean out the window and she nods off in bed, the needle gently rocking on the bedside table -- Monday aubade -- When the beloved asks, "What would you do if you woke up and I was a shark?" -- Lorca's red dresses -- Of course she looked back -- Apotheosis of Kiss -- Orange alert -- The elephants -- Why I don't mention flowers when conversations with my brother reach uncomfortable silences -- The beauty of a busted fruit -- Love potion 2012 -- A wild life zoo.

Awards Note:

American Book Award, 2013.