The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Diaz, Natalie. "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation." https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56353/abecedarian-requiring-further-examination-of-anglikan-seraphym-subjugation-of-a-wild-indian-rezervation.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotation is taken.

“Abecedarian” is a poem in abecedarian form, written by Native Mojave-American poet Natalie Diaz. The poem was published in Diaz’s first collection of poetry, When My Brother Was an Aztec, in 2012. Diaz was raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California, on the banks of the Colorado River. In her poetry, she eloquently gives voice to issues surrounding both queer and Native American identity. She has stated in interviews that her poetry is preoccupied with telling stories, giving accounts of what she has experienced or what she inherits from her elders. Myth and history play a large role in her literary work, as she either inhabits or subverts them. As a speaker of Mojave, English, and Spanish, Diaz often foregrounds a mix of languages and cultural references in her poetry. Over the years, she has become more established in the contemporary poetry scene, publishing her second collection, Postcolonial Love Poem, in 2018 and receiving high acclaim from numerous critics.

“Abecedarian” is a paradigmatic example of Diaz’s concern with Native American histories. Declaring that the Native American reservation is devoid of angels, the speaker goes on to suggest that only death can be found there. She introduces characters like Gabe and Pastor John’s family members in order to make the point that angels are white, and that no Native American on her reservation has ever encountered an angel. By the end of the poem, the speaker warns the addressee against expecting or desiring the presence of angels because they would displace and colonize the reservation’s way of life.