Delta Sharecroppers, 1930
- Delta Sharecroppers, 1930
At first glance, everything about them— the straight lines of their mouths, the dark creases of their necks, the hollows beneath their eyes—seems gray. The man in starched overalls, lace-up boots and wide-brimmed hat, his wife in a neat house dress, opaque stockings rolled at her knees, and shoes like her husband’s. Behind them, a backdrop, probably blue, to make them feel at home, outdoors, plumb with the boundless farmland sky. Perhaps they are told to act natural, you know,put your arms around each other. And they do, reaching awkwardly for the same place on the other’s body— a flush of color on the woman’s cheeks, the man’s eyes opened wide, and the sudden stiffening of shoulders— like touching that very first time.
Selected works by Natasha Trethewey:
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• Accounting
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• Beginning
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• Calling His Children Home
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• Closing Time
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• Deedywops
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• Delta Sharecroppers, 1930
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• Expectant
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• History Lesson
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• Hot Comb
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• The House Down the Street
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• Saturday Drive
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• Secular
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• The Four Corners
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• Laying the Waves
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• An Interview with Natasha Trethewey
Natasha Trethewey, a member of the Dark Room Collective, is studying for the Ph.D. in English at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), where she received the M.F.A. in creative writing in 1995. Her poetry has appeared in a variety of periodicals, including The Massachusetts Review, Seattle Review, Agni, The Southern Review, African American Review, The Gettysburg Review, and Callaloo.
