Less Fortunate Pirates: Poems from the First Year Without My Father

On December 10, 2009, Jimmy Borland gave his son, Bryan, $1,000 so that Bryan could begin a small press. Ten days later, Jimmy was killed when his vehicle left a one-lane bridge and plunged into a lake. Sibling Rivalry Press - and all that we've published - grew from a last gift from father to son. Less Fortunate Pirates is a map to surviving the first year following a loss, but more than anything, it's Bryan's way of repaying his father for the gift that changed his life.

These are the poems from Bryan's first year without his father: the grief, the love, the memories, and the discovery and exploration of a new landscape.

Sooner or later, we all become pirates.

Bryan Borland is a Pushcart-nominated poet from Little Rock, Arkansas, and the owner of Sibling Rivalry Press. His first book, MY LIFE AS ADAM, was one of only five collections of poetry included on the American Library Association's "Over the Rainbow" list of notable LGBT-themed books published in 2010. He is the founding editor of ASSARACUS, the only print journal in the world dedicated exclusively to the poetry of gay men. His work has appeared in Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Breadcrumb Scabs, Referential Magazine, vox poetica, Ganymede, and Velvet Mafia, among others.