GENESIS

by Crisosto Apache

“Crisosto Apache’s collection is mesmerizing for its experimental formal variations. Inspired by Dine’ weaving methods, Apache creates ornate formal compositions coupled with a recursive reading experience. Ranging from fragmentation to prose block, formal considerations reflect the content selected for each poem. For instance, “K’us tádini tsąąbi’ +2: [38 Necks +2]” discusses the hanging of 38 Dakota men upon the orders of Abraham Lincoln, with each stanza using indentation to pace the poem counting up until reaching the number 38... With the use of Apache Language (Ndé Bizaa) & Navajo Language (Diné Bizaad) Apache creates a cascading resonance where the reader is asked to separate themselves from what they know of Native American history, and consider the Indigenous experience in America through Apache’s experiences on the reservation and in urban settings. Through these locations we are exposed to meditations on sexuality, Native American identity, and historical trauma... Genesis delivers an experience that is both kinetic and visceral.” —Santee Frazier

“[G]estation to birth of new generation, this book gives monumental range to the genesis of identity and charts the pathway to soul of self. A long-awaited phenomenal debut.” —Allison Adelle Hedge Coke

“Entirely new, experimental, and worth the effort of reading. Passionate in places, contemplative in others, he travels from that ancient past toward the distant universe.”—Linda Hogan

“GENESIS whirls. These poems record not only the nine months of history occurring while the poet formed in gestation... it attempts to make sense of the whirling world of chromosomes, of snow across body-laden battlefields, the whirl of strobe lights in a sex club, and the spiral which meets in the center where isdzán and haastiń (woman and man) become indistinguishable. Apache’s collection challenges our footing on things we thought we knew.”—James Thomas Stevens

Genres: Poetry

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2018

Reviews

[Crisosto Apache · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this project during grad school, back in 2013. Writing this collection started out as an exercise on writing poetry as identity. Through his process I realized this project was more than just identity, I was trying to map memory. The associations of memory began to manifest in different aspects of place, history, and connection to gender. My project really started from the Apache and Navajo emergent story called the “Whirling Logs”. The “Whirling Logs” is a flood story where humans gained ceremonial knowledge after surviving an extinction level flooding event. I took this model of story and applied it to the idea of memory, where memory is passed on as knowledge, and this knowledge become part of bloodline and genetics. I also relied on the ideology of Apache and Navajo cosmology to locate a sense of identity and place, at my time of birth. It is these concepts which I explored in this collection of poetry.
Memory is part of our connection. Memory is the thing that keeps us relevant as human beings, memory is language, stories, and ceremony. Memory is remembering, all the aspect of history, biology, and cosmology. Memory is our origin.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genesis, and Crisosto Apache, challenges, delights, and surprises at every poem. A constant theme throughout the work is the shaping of identity, and the concept of personhood as it relates to the culture surrounding us, in this case, focusing on Crisosto Apache's relationship to his Native American heritage. The book, as a whole, is wildly experimental, but unlike some experimental poetry, never fails to touch the soul with imagery that breathes, emotes, and sometimes even shocks like some of the references to sexual organs. Favorite poems include: Letting Go, Artifacts, and ix: nineteen seventy one.

An explored theme throughout many of the poems is science, (maybe even the concept of scientific dogma) and its relationship with the cosmological worldview of many Native American tribes. Vivid descriptions of planets, celestial bodies, and obscure astrological and botanical names are listed throughout the book, which was a particularly interesting way to develop this topic. The second page of i. nineteen seventy is actually just a list that somehow evokes this theme of science and technology and their intersection with Native American tradition and identity, for the modern indigenous man.

This is a mesmerizing book, and Apache is truly a master of his craft, and I highly recommend it to any serious reader of contemporary poetry, or anyone with an interest in indigenous poetry.

-Jack

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating journey into identity, form and sound. I read many of these poems outloud, and I recommend it to experience the full effect of his writing.