Firemark by Jessica M. Brophy

Firemark is a memoir formed by poems that are by turns witty and flagrant, poignant and wise. Jessica Brophy unfurls an invitation to the reader: “I’m not hiding anymore. / Come see.” She sees “pink. / Bazooka skin pink. Baby’s soft tongue pink. / Salmon buttered pink. / . . . Like [her] favorite pink square in the Starbursts bag or the nub of an eraser unworn or the lotus flower / floating / under [her] / direction.” This poet knows that when we recognize the magnitude of our deepest selves, another world—the truest world—opens and invites us in.

–Wendy Miles, poet and winner of the 2014 Patricia Dobler Poetry Award

In this poetic hybrid, Jessica Brophy discovers that, “The pain of not changing is greater than the pain of becoming.” Raw honesty, vulnerability, tenacity, and grace define the nerve of this collection. Firemark is a delightful and important work that will inspire readers to face their own fears head-on, showing them how to emerge on the other side with newfound self-respect, elegant clarity, and kind humor.

–Mildred K. Barya, author of three poetry collections, Give Me Room to Move My Feet, The Price of Memory After the Tsunami and Men Love Chocolates But They Don’t Say.

Firemark takes readers through the journey of pain and shame to acceptance. From “I” to “She,” we see Jessica Brophy move from inside her skin to outside and back again. At times, Brophy joins us in the act of gazing. Other times, we are witnesses to the naming of the mark that places her outside. A magnificent wordsmith, Brophy crafts dialogue and images that sit with the reader and at times haunt. This is the work for any who have felt the need to cover up, to bend in an almost breaking way, before embracing their uniqueness.

–Jer Bryant, Poet, Essayist, Educator

Firemark is a triumph of the human spirit.

–Toi Derricotte, award-winning author of The Undertaker’s Daughter and The Black Notebooks