Book Review: the chosen one by vanessa maki
The chosen one by vanessa maki is a love letter to Buffy that uses the series’ fantastical symbolism to elevate the more human themes of passion, womanhood, and mental health. The poems are both narrative and experimental, often broken up with quotes from episodes of the show that double as thematic epigraphs.
Maki alludes to her status as the “chosen one,” chosen to “slay white supremacy,” “the worst beings on the planet,” and herself. In “stakes,” she definitively declares, “I’m the black version of Buffy / so I’m the most forgotten / the one with the most at stake,” ending with the double entendre of ‘stake,’ a thing that both slays and risks it all. She takes the inherited power of her black femininity, gifted from the one who came before, and her own ability to utilize that power as the slayer, to become the chosen one. “Blk Buffy / the one who destroys things / look at her / she’ll stomp on your pretty packaged life.”
Despite the bombastic voice in her titular poems, maki also explores the flipside of womanhood, the draining experience of living as a woman in a body, of being chosen and still unable to contain your own self-destructive nature, of wanting too much, of becoming the villain: “who are you? / the bad girl / bitch / the villain / sick.” Empowered women are often seen as too much and the negative gaze of others turns Buffy, and therefore maki, inward. In “body swap” maki writes, “damn, this body does me no good / too much history in it / too much ruined temple sitting cold in it / can I body swap with someone? / someone righteous / someone who ain’t ruined / someone who ain’t so disgusting.” The darker side of righteousness, of feeling like you’re never doing enough — if you’re not saving everyone, how can you save yourself?
Self-criticism gives way to suicidal ideation in “resurrection,” “& once you reach the surface / it’s right back to the same place / you never wanted to be again, / the land of the living,” and again in “sacrifice,” “time to leap / time to leave this earth / for everyone / for myself / my body / my blood.” Maki writes as Blk Buffy, but also as the creatures who claw their way out of the ground, returning to be slain once more, a metaphor, perhaps, for the persistent pull of depression, of anxiety, of repressed female anger at the world. Stuff it all back underground, so no one has to see.
The strongest poems, in my opinion, were the ones that acknowledged the reader as part of the journey and pulled back the curtain a bit on maki’s Buffy collaboration. “The chosen one part III” ends the collection with, “chosen to be more / at least until the show’s over / or i’m over / or they turn off the tv,” showing the reader or viewer that they give the characters their power. Without the persistent gaze of others, without someone actively paying attention, can the chosen one achieve her goals? In the present society, people thrive on being voyeurs. We peek behind the curtains of our neighbors on Snapchat and learn their political thoughts on Facebook. In order for the revolution to occur, it must be Instagrammed — and maki’s Blk Buffy realizes it. She only has the audience’s full attention, until they choose to look away.
The chosen one is a beguiling take on the Buffy universe and offers embedded references for fans as well as engaging, thematic poetry for those who may not have watched the original series, but still feel the need to slay.
purchase the chosen one here.
Abigail Stewart is a fiction writer from Berkeley, California. When she’s not writing, she reads (a lot), practices yoga, runs a dungeons & dragons campaign, and always enjoys a glass of good red wine. She lives with her partner in an apartment filled with plants and books and breakable things.
Learn more about Abigail at her website and follow her on Twitter @abby_writes.