High-school Poetry

As a poetry fan, I find Natasha Tretheway's Native Guard to be a refreshing look into history and the injustices endured by African Americans. Tretheway not only explores her African American past through many of her poems, but she also shares her personal story of growing up mulatto and losing her mother to domestic violence as a child. Native Guard demonstrates Tretheway's struggle to find her true identity in a world that forgets its African American history and without a mother to tell her of her family history. Tretheway's poetry collection is the voice of identity struggle further undermined by a deep grief. Her particular struggle is deeper and more complex than most identity crisis'; however, the search for identity is something that can be related to by every individual.
Tretheway's style of writing is simple and easy to understand. I find it easy to read, which makes it easy to relate to. The poetry has a flow that is easy to read that adds to it's function. This collection would be a wonderful collection to read in a high-school poetry section. The subject matter isn't too complex, the text isn't too lengthy, it's based on topics that are relevant to today's youth, and teens of all ages could relate to it in their search for identity I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tretheway's Native Guard, it was both educational and entertaining.