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Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. BRUTE
  3. BRUTE
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. BRUTE
  7. I: MY HISTORY AS
  8. MY HISTORY AS
  9. BRUTE STRENGTH
  10. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP WHITE MOTHS
  11. I HAVE READ THE WHOLE MOON
  12. ELEGY WITHOUT A SINGLE TREE I CAN SAVE
  13. IN MARCH WHEN YOU TELL ME YOU DON’T
  14. [IN DEFEAT I WAS PERFECT]
  15. ELEGY WITH A SHIT-BROWN RIVER RUNNING THROUGH IT
  16. PHILADELPHIA
  17. THE BRUTE / BRUTE HEART
  18. II: GIRL SAINTS
  19. GIRL SAINTS
  20. DEAR KATIE
  21. ELEGY WITH FEATHERS
  22. DEAR RUTH
  23. [IT WASN’T ABOUT LOVE]
  24. ELEGY WITH SYMPTOMS
  25. INDICTMENT
  26. LETTER TO S, HOSPITAL
  27. RULES FOR A BODY COMING OUT OF WATER
  28. DEAR EMILY
  29. III: CIRCLE
  30. AUBADE WITH BOUNDARIES
  31. FOUR HAWKS
  32. HOW TO MEND A FAUCET DRIPPING THREAD
  33. ELEGY WITH BLACK SMOKE
  34. [FOR DAYS I WAS SILENT]
  35. ELEGY FOR R
  36. [REMARKABLE THE LITTER OF BIRDS]
  37. SELF-PORTRAIT WITH HAWK & ARMADA
  38. MARCH IS MARCH
  39. THANK YOU WHEN I’M AN AXE
  40. IV: BRIGHT LANDSCAPE
  41. NO, I DO NOT WANT TO CONNECT WITH YOU ON LINKEDIN
  42. CLEF
  43. BRUTE FORCE
  44. ELEGY WITH SYMPATHY
  45. AUBADE WITH ATTENTION TO PATHOS
  46. II.
  47. III.
  48. IV.
  49. V.
  50. FIGURE OF WOMAN COMING OUT OF A WALL
  51. ELEGY WITH RABBITS
  52. [EURYDICE]
  53. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  54. About the Author

Eurydice. So I stand in my coat. We’re almost a whole shadow now from far away.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to the editors of the following journals, where some of these poems first appeared, sometimes in alternate versions:

The Adroit Journal, “Aubade with Attention to Pathos”

Bennington Review, “Elegy with Symptoms”

Blackbird, “Figure of Woman Coming Out of a Wall” & “It’s Impossible to Keep White Moths”

Black Warrior Review, “Self-Portrait with Hawk & Armada”

BOAAT Journal, “[It wasn’t about love]”

Colorado Review, “[Eurydice]”

Copper Nickel, “Dear Emily”

Crab Orchard Review, “The Brute / Brute Heart”

Crazyhorse, “Brute Force” & “[Remarkable the litter of birds]”

Devil’s Lake, “Aubade with Boundaries” & “Elegy with Black Smoke”

FIELD, “Girl Saints”

Gulf Coast, “My History As”

The Journal, “In March When You Tell Me You Don’t” & “I Have Read the Whole Moon”

jubilat, “Dear Katie”

Linebreak, “Rules for a Body Coming Out of Water”

Mid-American Review, “Thank You When I’m an Axe”

Ninth Letter, “Elegy without a Single Tree I Can Save” & “Elegy with Rabbits”

PANK, “Clef” & “Elegy for R”

The Pinch, “Four Hawks,” reprinted in American Poets & Best New Poets 2015

Pleiades, “How to Mend a Faucet Dripping Thread”

Prairie Schooner, “Letter to S, Hospital”

Quarterly West, “Elegy with a Shit-Brown River Running through It” & “March Is March”

Redivider, “Brute Strength”

The Rumpus, “No, I Do Not Want to Connect with You on LinkedIn”

Salt Hill, “Philadelphia”

Southern Indiana Review, “Dear Ruth,” reprinted in American Poets

Third Coast, “Elegy with Sympathy”

Vinyl, “Elegy with Feathers” & “Indictment”

I am forever grateful to Joy Harjo for believing in Brute & selecting it as the winner of the Walt Whitman Award. Thank you to Jen Benka & the Academy of American Poets, to the Civitella Ranieri Foundation & to the editorial team at Graywolf, especially Jeff Shotts, Katie Dublinski & Susannah Sharpless, for their insight, support & expertise.

Thank you to my family—for your love & faith in me, even when I did not have faith in myself: Mark & Kim Skaja, Melissa & Dave Koprek, Josh Skaja & Kimberly Giannini Skaja, Erin Cramer, Ellis & Hudson Skaja, Anne & Edward Skaja, Wilma & Deane Colburn, my very supportive extended family & the Wicker family.

Thank you especially to Marcus, dearest & brightest heart, for the happy life we are building.

Thank you to the brilliant & extraordinary women who have lived through the events of this book with me & loved & supported me in the long process of writing it: thank you to Katie Schmid & Stevi Williams Purdom, to Julie Henson, Bethany Leach, Natalie Lund, Katie McClendon & Rebecca McKanna & to Caitlin Doyle, Sarah Rose Nordgren & Corey Van Landingham.

To Don Platt, my MFA thesis advisor, who had a vision for this book long before I did & whose enthusiasm & careful analysis taught me to challenge myself: thank you for your kindness, your insight & your generosity—without you, this book would not exist.

Thank you to Marianne Boruch for helping me learn to laugh at myself in a poem & for “P.S., don’t forget the mayonnaise.”