"Fourteen ninety-something, / something happened / and no one can pick it out of the lineup . . . "
In words drawn from urban and Navajo perspectives, Sherwin Bitsui articulates the challenge a Native American person faces in reconciling his or her inherited history of lore and spirit with the coldness of postmodern civilization.
Shapeshift is a collection of startling new poetry that explores the tensions between the worlds of nature and man. Through brief, imagistic poems interspersed with evocative longer narratives, it offers powerful perceptions of American culture and politics and their lack of spiritual grounding. Linking story, history, and voice, Shapeshift is laced with interweaving images—the gravitational pull of a fishbowl, the scent of burning hair, the trickle of motor oil from a harpooned log—that speak to the rich diversity of contemporary Diné writing.
"Tonight, I draw a raven's wing inside a circle
measured a half second
before it expands into a hand.
I wrap its worn grip over our feet
As we thrash against pine needles inside the earthen pot."
With complexities of tone that shift between disconnectedness and wholeness, irony and sincerity, Bitsui demonstrates a balance of excitement and intellect rarely found in a debut volume. As deft as it is daring, Shapeshift teases the mind and stirs the imagination.
In words drawn from urban and Navajo perspectives, Sherwin Bitsui articulates the challenge a Native American person faces in reconciling his or her inherited history of lore and spirit with the coldness of postmodern civilization.
Shapeshift is a collection of startling new poetry that explores the tensions between the worlds of nature and man. Through brief, imagistic poems interspersed with evocative longer narratives, it offers powerful perceptions of American culture and politics and their lack of spiritual grounding. Linking story, history, and voice, Shapeshift is laced with interweaving images—the gravitational pull of a fishbowl, the scent of burning hair, the trickle of motor oil from a harpooned log—that speak to the rich diversity of contemporary Diné writing.
"Tonight, I draw a raven's wing inside a circle
measured a half second
before it expands into a hand.
I wrap its worn grip over our feet
As we thrash against pine needles inside the earthen pot."
With complexities of tone that shift between disconnectedness and wholeness, irony and sincerity, Bitsui demonstrates a balance of excitement and intellect rarely found in a debut volume. As deft as it is daring, Shapeshift teases the mind and stirs the imagination.
Bitsui’s poetry is elegant, probative and original. His vision connects worlds.' —New Mexico Magazine
'What is exciting about Shapeshift is the fresh voice and perspective it introduces to Native American and Navajo literature. The times and attitudes have changed, and Shapeshift does not ignore this fact. . . . A must-read for anyone interested in discovering a new Native American author.' —Navajo Times
‘His images can tilt on the side of surrealism, yet his work can be compellingly accessible.’ —Arizona Daily Star
Sherwin Bitsui is the recipient of the 2000-2001 Individual Poet Grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry and the 1999 Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship. His poems have appeared in American Poet, The Iowa Review, Frank, Red Ink, and elsewhere.
Asterisk
1868
Atlas
Apparition
The Skyline of a Missing Tooth
At Deer Springs
The Eyes of the Executioner
The Northern Sun
Red Light
She Was Not Invited
Trickster
Blankets of Bark
The Sun Rises and I Think of Your Bruised Larynx
Bodies Wanting Wood
Nazbas
Turtle
ANWR
River
Conquistador
The Gravitational Pull of a Fishbowl
The Scent of Burning Hair
The Hoof in My Soup Glistens
Translation?
Halo
The Noose in My Dream
Umbilicus
Offering
Bullet Wet Earth
Nahasdzáán
The Four Directions of a Lie
Drought
I Don’t Remember:
Chrysalis
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