Poetry Analysis

My Brother at 3 A.M. by Natalie Diaz is the poem I select. I like this poem because it is like a suspense movie. At the beginning of the poem, Natalie Diaz depicts a depressive and intense scene for me. I have no idea what was going on before Brother said someone wanted to kill him. Just like some suspense movies, the director will set a mystery atmosphere in the start of the movie to firmly seize viewers’ attention. So, the intense atmosphere of the beginning of the poem drew my attention successfully.  

The perspective of My Brother at 3 A.M. is kind of like third person narration. The author may be involved in the poem that she wrote, or maybe she is standing for something to express something. She was watching her Brother weeping on the step painfully, and her mother was trying to comfort her brother. Also, I feel the Brother broke down from reality based on the conversation between him and Mother. The Brother told his mother there was a devil who wanted to kill him, and he kept saying “O God”(3,22,25) repeatedly. These kinds of words make me feel the Brother lost his reality, and he was in the state of being delirious. Furthermore, I still don’t know what is happening with the Brother at the end of the poem. But, there were two assumptions in my mind. The first one is that the Brother abused a lot of drugs, so he began to lose his mind. The second one is that this is maybe one of the nightmares once happened to the author. In fact, no matter what the result or consequence of this poem. I think this poem is charming enough to grab my attention, and it is unforgettable. This poem is like a short suspense movie that Diaz invites me to watch with her. Although there are not many more characters in this poem, the mood and tone of this poem is quite impressive. 

There are seven quatrains in this poem, and the italic sentence is indicating the conversation. In the most common situation, the conversation in the context is usually quoted by quotation mark, but the author uses italic to indicate the conversation rather than using quotation mark. Based on the tone of this poem, I think the italic is used to express an unstable and create an intensive environment. I consider there are two functions of italic here.  The one is emphasizing the Brother break down from reality. The other one is to strengthen the worry from the mother. Besides, there is an indent in the last two sentences. These spaces are just like a stair to push the story to keep moving to the next plot. Although the author uses the same sentences to develop the story, the usage of index makes each standex become different from each other. Moreover, “O God”(3, 22, 25) is what the brother often said in this poem. These two simple words express the depression and sadness from the Brother. It is like a person who was trapped into a deep dark hole. He can not realize if this is reality or not, and he is feeling hopeless. All of the elements are powerful, and it is enough accuracy to express the sober feeling from the author.

The second poem I select is My Brother My Wound by Natalie Diaz as well. I choose this poem because I am interested in what the connection is with the poem My Brother at 3 A.M.. These two poems are talking about the Brother, but the style of writing is different. In the first one, the author is not involved in the scene, and she is invisible. But, in the poem My Brother My Wound, Diaz is the part of the poem. She tried to help her brother get out of choking, and she had some conversation with him. The depiction of this poem is also full of imagination. For instance, Natalia Diaz shows ” So I punched my fists against his stomach/Mars flew out”(12-13). The term “Mars” here seems to release something unknown or secret by the Brother, and Natalie Diaz is the only person who knows this secret. Also, this poem reminds me of my cousin. We have lived together since he was born, and we are like siblings. However, I hated having a brother when I was young because I did not like to share everything with him. I often refused to share my stuff with him and tried to argue with him. Maybe for my cousin, I was the person who made the wound for him. I had done a lot of bad things to him. But, as the time went by, my mind became mature. When I threw back to the thing I did to him, I felt extremely guilty. I tried to do something to compensate for him and learned to be a good elder cousin. Now, I am proud of having a little cousin and brother, and I think Natalie Diaz is also proud of her brother.

There are eight stanzas in the poem My Brother My Wound, and most of the stanzas have four lines. Although each stanzas are different, I think the structure of this poem is kind of like symmetry. Because Natalie Diaz writes “He said, Look Look. And they did”(16) and “He said, Lift up your shirt. And I did.”(17)  These two stanzas stand in the middle of the poem. The structure and rhythm are similar, and there are also three stanzas above and under them. I also consider these two stanzas divided the story into two parts. The stanzas ” He said, Look Look. and they did”(16)  is like the ending of the introduction of this poem’s story. And, the stanzas “He said, Lift up your shirt. And I did” (17) is like the beginning of the next part of the story. To begin to tell the reader how the Brother made a “wound” for “me”. Therefore, I think these two stanzas are important in this poem because they are like strong bridges to connect and narrate the poem.In sum, like Natalie Diaz said in the interview, “I’m hoping that when they arrive into this collection that they’re offered a way to return to themselves.” The poems I selected from her are having a strong connection with myself. I like My Brother at 3 A.M. because it is like a suspense movie to draw my curiosity firmly. And My Brother My Wound is also recalling something bad I did to my cousin. Both of these poems provide a way to help me reflect and learn more about myself. These two poems are not only just about She and Her Brother, but also a mirror to see who I am.