Best Bones
Best Bones
SARAH ROSE NORDGREN
Series: Pitt Poetry Series
Copyright Date: 2014
Published by: University of Pittsburgh Press
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc
Pages: 112
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zwbnc
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Book Info
Best Bones
Book Description:

Winner of the 2013 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry PrizeBest Bonesis a house. When you walk around the rooms of the house, you overhear the desires and griefs of a family, as well as the unresolved concerns of lingering ghosts. The various voices in the house struggle against the family roles and social identities that they must wear like heavy garments-mother, father, wife, husband, sister, brother, servant, and master. All these voices crave unification; they want to join themselves into one whole sentient being, into "a mansion steering itself."The poems inBest Bonesalso explore the experience of living in a physical body, and how the natural world intersects with manmade landscapes and technologies. In it, mother has a reset button, servants blend into the furniture, and a doctor patiently oversees the pregnancy of the earth.In these poems, the body is a working machine, a repository of childhood myth and archetype, and a window to the spiritual world. The poems strive to be visceral on the level of dream, or of a story that is half remembered and half fabricated.

eISBN: 978-0-8229-8023-0
Subjects: Language & Literature
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Table of Contents
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-viii)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.1
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. ix-xii)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.2
  3. FABLE
    FABLE (pp. 1-2)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.3
  4. 1
    • STILL BIRTH
      STILL BIRTH (pp. 5-5)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.4
    • TEMPORARY RIVER
      TEMPORARY RIVER (pp. 6-6)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.5
    • REMARKS ON THE MORNING’S WORK IN WINTER
      REMARKS ON THE MORNING’S WORK IN WINTER (pp. 7-8)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.6
    • THE WIFE
      THE WIFE (pp. 9-9)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.7
    • THE MISTRESS
      THE MISTRESS (pp. 10-10)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.8
    • A BATHING GOWN A GIRL CAN MAKE
      A BATHING GOWN A GIRL CAN MAKE (pp. 11-11)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.9
    • THE ONLY HOUSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
      THE ONLY HOUSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (pp. 12-12)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.10
    • THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED
      THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED (pp. 13-13)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.11
    • SISTERS
      SISTERS (pp. 14-14)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.12
    • WHITE SHEEP. WHITE CLOUD.
      WHITE SHEEP. WHITE CLOUD. (pp. 15-15)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.13
    • GENTLE DOCTOR
      GENTLE DOCTOR (pp. 16-16)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.14
    • 1917
      1917 (pp. 17-18)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.15
  5. 2
    • EXHUMATION
      EXHUMATION (pp. 21-21)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.16
    • MY GRANDMOTHER’S BELONGINGS
      MY GRANDMOTHER’S BELONGINGS (pp. 22-22)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.17
    • MARY
      MARY (pp. 23-23)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.18
    • TO MY DAUGHTER
      TO MY DAUGHTER (pp. 24-24)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.19
    • SURROGATE
      SURROGATE (pp. 25-25)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.20
    • INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE
      INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE (pp. 26-27)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.21
    • WALLFLOWER
      WALLFLOWER (pp. 28-28)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.22
    • INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARRIAGE BY SERVICE
      INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARRIAGE BY SERVICE (pp. 29-30)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.23
    • BY JOVE
      BY JOVE (pp. 31-31)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.24
    • OUR FURRY FRIENDS
      OUR FURRY FRIENDS (pp. 32-32)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.25
    • THE PERFORMANCE
      THE PERFORMANCE (pp. 33-33)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.26
    • LETTER FROM A NEW ENGLAND GIRL
      LETTER FROM A NEW ENGLAND GIRL (pp. 34-35)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.27
    • CHARMED
      CHARMED (pp. 36-36)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.28
    • YOUR SERVER FOR THIS EVENING
      YOUR SERVER FOR THIS EVENING (pp. 37-38)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.29
    • LAYING THE CLOTH, ET CETERA
      LAYING THE CLOTH, ET CETERA (pp. 39-39)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.30
    • EMPLOYMENT
      EMPLOYMENT (pp. 40-40)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.31
    • BLACKFLY
      BLACKFLY (pp. 41-41)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.32
    • POSSIBLE NAMES FOR A COUNTRY HOUSE
      POSSIBLE NAMES FOR A COUNTRY HOUSE (pp. 42-42)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.33
    • AUGUST POSTCARD
      AUGUST POSTCARD (pp. 43-43)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.34
    • MY DEAREST DOLL
      MY DEAREST DOLL (pp. 44-44)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.35
    • REMEMBERING YOUR YOUNG LOVE
      REMEMBERING YOUR YOUNG LOVE (pp. 45-46)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.36
  6. 3
    • GAIKOTSU
      GAIKOTSU (pp. 49-50)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.37
    • LOVE POEM
      LOVE POEM (pp. 51-51)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.38
    • KIDS THESE DAYS
      KIDS THESE DAYS (pp. 52-52)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.39
    • TENDING THE FLOCKS (ENGLAND, 1790)
      TENDING THE FLOCKS (ENGLAND, 1790) (pp. 53-53)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.40
    • PRION
      PRION (pp. 54-54)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.41
    • DON’T
      DON’T (pp. 55-55)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.42
    • THE BEST BONES
      THE BEST BONES (pp. 56-56)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.43
    • HOME
      HOME (pp. 57-58)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.44
    • PAJAMAS
      PAJAMAS (pp. 59-60)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.45
    • OPHELIA
      OPHELIA (pp. 61-61)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.46
    • THE ARTIST’S BOY
      THE ARTIST’S BOY (pp. 62-62)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.47
    • THE NEW FAMILY
      THE NEW FAMILY (pp. 63-63)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.48
    • ABOUT THE HAMMER
      ABOUT THE HAMMER (pp. 64-64)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.49
    • THE MONASTERY
      THE MONASTERY (pp. 65-66)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.50
    • CALENDAR
      CALENDAR (pp. 67-68)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.51
    • WHEN YOU ARE DEAD
      WHEN YOU ARE DEAD (pp. 69-72)
      https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.52
  7. BLUE WHALE
    BLUE WHALE (pp. 73-76)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.53
  8. NOTES
    NOTES (pp. 77-78)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.54
  9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pp. 79-80)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zwbnc.55