Susto

by Tommy Archuleta

Surreal yet earthbound, orphaned yet mothered more than most, comforting yet disturbing—Tommy Archuleta’s Susto surveys many the body, the soul, the terrain the soul encounters upon leaving the body. But the setting is also the high desert landscape that is the poet’s northern New Mexico home, a land whose beauty today is as silencing and brutal as was the colonization of the region and her Anasazi descendants by Archuleta’s Spanish antipasados. In Susto, loss is everywhere to be found, though this work is not merely a concerted meditation on lament. Rather, it is part unearthed family album; part unlocked diary; part ode to motherhood and her various forms; part manual on preparing for a happy death; and part primer on the ancient art of c uranderismo , whereby plants and roots are prepared for treating all manner of ills a mind and body might face.
 

Genres: Poetry

94 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2023

Reviews

[T Brown]

Sentimental grief. The potion recipes were such a complement to the poetry; I melted a little reading the afterword when I found out they were from a book his mom made. Archuleta's word play was very pleasant and made the reading experience magical. I picked this up at the library because I liked the cover art and I am honestly glad I took a chance on reading a random man's writing with zero context for a change.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmph