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A review by alisarae
When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Díaz
The author grew up and lives in the Southwest, so a lot of these poems came with a weary sense of familiarity for me. Diaz writes about identity, poverty, her meth-addicted brother, and wounds.
The poems were interesting to read because I have a grasp of the place. I didn't understand all of the references, but I liked when I could pick out what was being referred to. There is quite a bit of Spanish in here, and I was happy that I got all of it without looking anything up. The poems about the destructiveness and helplessness that comes with living with an addict were the most interesting to me.
I could tell that each poem was carefully crafted and labored over--many of the words were just so thoughtful and perfectly honed for the context. A lot of popular poetry is clever or emotional, but it's harder to find a collection that is somberly sincere, comes from a deep emotional place, and is knowledgeably thinking like this collection is.
The poems were interesting to read because I have a grasp of the place. I didn't understand all of the references, but I liked when I could pick out what was being referred to. There is quite a bit of Spanish in here, and I was happy that I got all of it without looking anything up. The poems about the destructiveness and helplessness that comes with living with an addict were the most interesting to me.
I could tell that each poem was carefully crafted and labored over--many of the words were just so thoughtful and perfectly honed for the context. A lot of popular poetry is clever or emotional, but it's harder to find a collection that is somberly sincere, comes from a deep emotional place, and is knowledgeably thinking like this collection is.