Brittney Corrigan
Duplex with Vultures
Brittney Corrigan
Duplex
with
Vultures
“Vultures are holy creatures.”
– Jarod K. Anderson
Everything changing form deserves tending.
Each suffering deserves a witness.
Each witness serves as balm to suffering,
a sacred space in which to transform.
Sacred space transforms body to spirit.
We should not be afraid to touch what withers.
We should touch with awe, not be afraid
of flesh nourishing flesh, returning
to earth. Flesh returning, flourishing
as something new. Watch breath become air and
as breath becomes air, that unbellowing.
Death becomes shared, not below. A thing
holy, becoming. Nothing to be scared of,
changing form. Everything deserves an ending.
Brittney Corrigan is the author of the poetry collections Daughters, Breaking, Navigation, 40 Weeks, and most recently, Solastalgia, a collection of poems about climate change, extinction, and the Anthropocene Age (JackLeg Press, 2023). Brittney was raised in Colorado and has lived in Portland, Oregon for the past three decades, where she is an alumna and employee of Reed College. Her debut short story collection, The Ghost Town Collectives, is forthcoming from Middle Creek Publishing in October, 2024. For more information, visit http://brittneycorrigan.com.
Featured in:
Red Rock Review
Issue 53