S. Brook Corfman
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KNOWLEDGE
for Hillary Gravendyk
The naturalist lives.
A funeral, a little green desk.
I first appeared altered.
THE FOUGHT-OVER
BPK's "Dead Doe: I," 54-58
BPK's "Dead Doe: I," 54-58
Not that not a shape. Unwilling outline and yes:
refuse. Leaves from a stag. Refuse, I thrive, refuse.
Soothes you not rain not fate from fading
our inherited stain.
Tears are as impersonal as a storm on a bee, and as large.
Not anxious me
stuck in what I am.
ABOUT ROSES
RMR’s “First Elegy,” 68-75
RMR’s “First Elegy,” 68-75
False—nothing natural falls from the sky,
breaks on quickly forgotten paths,
interprets thorns but no other meaningless
flowers, strangers as they are to a clean memory;
we become nothing at first
outside our limits, our calm breaths, but carry
intimate exchanges as charms.
I remember this, sleeping with no dreams.
Biographical Statement
S. Brook Corfman is the author of two books and several chapbooks including My Daily Actions, or The Meteorites, one of The New York Times Best Poetry Books of 2020, a finalist for a Publishing Triangle Award, and winner of the Fordham University Press POL Prize, judged by Cathy Park Hong. Born and raised in Chicago, they live in a turret in Pittsburgh. @sbrookcorfman & sbrookcorfman.com.