OLD BOYFRIENDS ON FACEBOOK
I don’t send them friend requests,
these boys, now men, who lit
me up like bonfires
on the weekends of my younger days.
They are form-fitting suits
with feet propped up
on corner-office desks,
Blackwater mercenaries
with shaky aim pulling triggers,
traveling salesmen talking fast,
pulling bait and switch. They are
on the border of Iraq and Iran
playing pool with natives
who don’t understand a word they say.
They are home in seventeen days,
married a year ago,
missing a body part I remember well.
They are smiling in photos
with people I don’t recognize
who don’t write poetry,
who aren’t as beautiful
as me.
© Bryan Borland
WEEDS NOMINATED FOR A PUSHCART PRIZE
My poem “Weeds” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I’m humbled by this honor, but I’m also very proud that comes from my association with vox poetica, one of the fastest growing online publications on the net. I want to thank Annmarie Lockhart for her dedication to offering poets her talent, time, and space. Annmarie says that “it is the mission of vox poetica to bring poets to people and people to poetry and to blur the line between reader and writer as best it can be blurred.” Check out vox poetica, not just for my poetry, but for the poetry of the many wonderful writers Annmarie spotlights. If’ you’re a poet, I invite you to submit. Annmarie will take good care of you. She certainly has taken good care of me.
WYATT
From time to time
there was an unpleasant smell
emitting from Wyatt’s armpits.
Sometimes I pretended it was cologne
I really disliked. Other times
I held my breath
until it was appropriate to suggest
we shower, where
I would try to clean him
the best I could
without being obvious.
What’s bullshit is he smelled nice
the night he broke up with me.
© Bryan Borland/MedicatedLady
JERSEY BOYS FEATURED AT VOX POETICA
My poem “Jersey Boys” was included as part of vox poetica’s Contributor Series 2: Candy and Spirits. After today, it will be featured on vox’s poemblog. Happy Halloween!
FAG/HAG PUBLISHED AT INK NODE
My poem “FAG/HAG” – inspired by my friendship with MedicatedLady - has been posted at Ink Node. Click here to read it.
CHROMA REVIEWS GANYMEDE POETS, ONE
Chroma, the UK’s leading GLBT art-related publication, has posted a review of Ganymede Poets, One. The anthology includes my poem “Bite.” Check out the review by clicking here.
ERIC PUBLISHED AT INK NODE
My poem “Eric” has been published at Ink Node and can be viewed by clicking here. Thanks to Stephen S. Mills for the invite. ”Eric” may be a poem familiar to regular readers of this blog as a previous version was posted here. “Eric” is also included as part of my manuscript Eden in Hindsight.
GRAPES OF COMFORT FEATURED AT VOX POETICA
“Grapes of Comfort,” a poem recently posted here, is featured today at vox poetica. After today, it can be found as a part of vox poetica’s poemblog. If you haven’t cultivated a relationship with Annmarie Lockhart, editor of vox poetica, I highly endorse the idea that you should submit your poetry to this wonderful, thriving poetic playground. She’s a great champion of writers and a dynamic source for prompts and prodding. It’s impossible to be a lazy poet with her in your corner. She’ll keep you writing.
TWO POEMS TO APPEAR IN SHAPE OF A BOX
Stay tuned to Shape of a Box for audiovisual interpretations of “If River Phoenix had Lived” and “Watching Brokeback Mountain in Little Rock.” I’ll post a link when the videos go up.
COME OUT FOR EQUALITY – AND TO SEE ME READ POETRY!
Coming Out for Equality – A Rainbow Family Outing October 10, 2009
October 10, 2009
Reservoir Park
Cantrell Road near Reservoir, Little Rock, Arkansas
1pm – Start
In celebration of National Coming Out Day and to encourage participation in equality work at the local and state level, the Center for Artistic Revolution and our “Coalition of the Willing” has joined together to put on this event. While our bothers and sisters march in Washington this weekend, let’s remember how very important local and statewide work truly is!
There’ll Be Free Food, Entertainment, Poetry, Speakers, Games and a Kickball Finale.
This fun filled event is for ALL of our LGBTQ/Same Gender Loving community and allies. Bring your family and friends.
Come out and be a part of building strong, respectful community relationships across our differences, recognizing our sameness and working together to create unity and power on the road to equal and fair treatment in Arkansas.
Sponsors include:
Center for Artistic Revolution, CAR, Brothas and Sistahs, Little Rock Black Pride, Diamond State Rodeo Association, CorneliusOnPoint, Little Rock PFLAG, Conway Pride, Stonewall Democrats, Marchetti & Associates, Cardinal Health Care GLBT, Jay Barth, Kathy Webb, Darlins, Quawpaw United Methodist
LUST IN TRANSLATION
“Lust in Translation” was published today in print and audio on qarrsiluni as part of its words of power series. Wanna hear my southern accent talk dirty to you (poetically of course)? Follow the link. It’s not g-rated.
C’mon. What did you expect from me?
JESUS WAS A WALKING PUBLIC OPTION
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken
unless he’s failed to meet his deductible.
Jesus never required a co-pay
from those who came to
be cured of their diseases,
the great multitudes of lame, blind, mute,
who laid down at his feet,
and were healed
despite pre-existing condition,
yet it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a sick man to enter
a waiting room without insurance.
© Bryan Borland
WORKSHOP ASSIGNMENT: “MY [RELATIVE] HAD” IN TEN LINES
HOW THE DISEASE SLOWLY WON
My aunt had cancer three times before it won,
before the tumor stretched her skin like her heart
was trying to escape. The first time we rallied,
took turns in waiting rooms and hospital cafeterias.
We were surprised she went home, but the disease
was ex-husband stubborn and never left for long.
The third time there were fewer telephone calls,
casseroles in the freezer, afternoons to spare.
At her funeral, we dreamed of barbecue.
We wondered who would do the dishes.
SHOCK THERAPY
My sister had electric shock therapy,
a last resort she took voluntarily
after begging doctors for most of her adult life,
pointing to bookmarked pages in her second-hand DSM,
look, bipolar with depressive episodes!
look, disassociate disorder with amnesia!
each self-diagnosis like a prize brought home
to perplexed dinner tables where she predicted
the robots were coming, that they were after
her government disability check.
PROBABILITY
My cousins had the same secret
I did,
the same heirloom handed down
on my mother’s side. I think they all
had their suspicions, or maybe
it was so frequent in my family that
pink passed for blue.
Of our generation, three out of six
were gay, only one out of six
liked girls, but he died at twenty one,
the survivors an anomaly of percentage.
© Bryan Borland
THE ART POINT
A massive thank you to Philip Clark, whose blog The Art Point always enlightens.
Philip spent countless hours reading the various drafts of my manuscript. He allowed me to fill his inbox to capacity with revision after revision. He found resources and potential publishers, introduced me to some wonderful people (Seth Ruggles Hiler - I’m talking to you), and gave honest feedback as my work progressed. Philip wrote to me several weeks ago and said, “Someone, years from now, is waiting to read you. Write for yourself, but write for him too.” His advice has become my creed.
Philip has the soul of a teacher. I’m happy to have been his student.
YOUR LIFE IS AN EASTERN EUROPEAN PORNOGRAPHIC FILM
A response to Paul Squires’ poem, your life is not an american movie,
Your life is an Eastern European pornographic film,
surrounded by flaccid beauty and disinterest,
lanky boys in hats smoking cigarettes while their
bodily fluids never have quite the right consistency,
fake seamen and soldiers misunderstanding cues,
mumbling when moans would be far more appropriate.
© Bryan Borland
Ownership: © Bryan Borland
