Crisosto Apache
Summer 2023 | Poetry
Random Thought Patterns / Anatomy of a Lipid Cell
it is Tuesday the 5th of September
— what seems like a train speeding by at 20 ft
the printer finishes the last page
— the sun is already out
a light beam drudges in
— source unknown
the sun starts red and then casts an orange shadow
a staunch projection of the future mounds in the desert
the shadows sway and merge
— fast and then faster
— printer diverges the first page
in a continuous dream, a vehicular memory emerges
— a molecular swap meet
de-glu-ti-tion
— swallowing down, swallowing deep,
— a deeper gluttonous act
— an act or progress of swallowing
as-sim-i-late
— within the chest, starts a new day.
sun-rise, in a continuous dream
— people enter and exit
— each eccentric in their light
— odd mingling behavior
— eclectic
love is rough, in a continuous dream
— no clouds in the sky
in a bathroom
— nighttime painful urination
— dreams during incarceration— nonsense
in a continuous dream
— extra-terrestrial, space, UFO probe
— nulls the cranial stairway on a high horse
— a golden saddle
atmospheric acid on the brain
— another cranial decadence
wedding bells, in a continuous dream
— why not?
sway and swish, in a continuous dream
only wanting to be held
— through conceit, through caress
squiggling, in a continuous dream
— among coils, pipes from some basement
gorgeous & amp, haughty in a continuous dream
— a body from a stretcher unleashing Orpheus
gathering orphans for an Opus
— a late-night musical persuasion
— not with three, love, coupling, or sheets
cars race at night in a continuous dream
— no carburetors, chains, or coyotes howling in heat
— some travel in packs and others travel without
Vaughn, New Mexico, in a continuous dream
— a small town diner, a note says, that was beautiful
stars may bloom, and cars will swoosh
into a dark facade and affected by a sugar high
it/I/you/he/she/is/am/are/will be hiding in a seat in the desert
a lonely old man wants the company of the youth
steel brush scrapes unkempt tires
and only for one evening, there are tears
using an illustration of a cattle herd
and a drawn carcass full of colors
darkness is faster than all fingers
— anxious and speeding lying along the highways
wandering far in a continuous dream
— an audio file with an annoying tapping beat
— tapping on a surface with no direction
— a radio dial emitting static
red wine in a continuous dream
— a stoic bright moonlight serenade
one hour remains in a continuous dream
— until my/our flesh crawls together tight
— words cannot express enough
— the infatuation concludes at dawn, 5:00 am
Crisosto Apache is originally from Mescalero, New Mexico, on the Mescalero Apache reservation, and currently lives in the Denver area with their spouse. They are Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Apache, and Diné (Navajo) of the Salt Clan born for the Towering House Clan. They hold an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts and are an Assistant Professor of English. Crisosto’s debut collection is GENESIS (Lost Alphabet). Their second book recently released is Ghostword (Gnashing Teeth Publication). They are also the Associate Poetry Editor of The Offing Magazine, and their profile can be seen on the Poetry Foundation's website as well as their website www.crisostoapache.com.
Crisosto recommends “Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow”, Henry Louis Gates Jr., “Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing”, edited by MariJo Moore, and “Sovereign Bones: New Native American Writing. Volume II”, edited by Eric Gansworth.