My poems “Levi” and “Blood” have been accepted by Velvet Mafia for publication. Work featured at Velvet Mafia routinely gets noticed by the editors of various “Best of” features and lists. Thanks to Philip Clark and Sean Meriwether for putting their stamp of approval on my poetry. When I know a publication date, I’ll share.
In first grade I remember watching
Challenger streak white doom against
the terminal blue sky as
our teacher cried.
I thought of this the moment after
I told him I was an astronaut,
anonymous Internet man number 51
he texted me back
wanna cuddle?
I knew straight men don’t
wanna cuddle
don’t ever
wanna cuddle
but I did
wanna cuddle
and wrote down his address on
a Burger King napkin,
walking to the car the opposite of how
She walked to the shuttle,
I know how this will end,
counting down
to the takeoff and explosion
and the tear-streaked faces
of all my teachers
and the lessons I ignored.
© Bryan Borland
MedicatedLady has posted an interview with me. Check it out.
I want to thank Eric Knechtges, Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Northern Kentucky University, for composing and staging a recital piece for narrator and viola around three of my poems.
The pieces were performed Friday night and the results were ten minutes of absolute beauty.
I am including a link to an unofficial recording of the performance. The poems, in order, are Teenage Boys, Strings, and Morning Coffee. I suggest reading the poems in print as you listen to the music.
Shake – Music By Eric Knechtges and Poetry by Bryan Borland
Or click the audio icon to listen here:
As a writer, to hear music inspired by my poetry is humbling and surreal, sort of a cross between a hug, a punch to the gut, and winning the lottery. Breathless and exhilarated, I will be forever grateful for the experience. No doubt the words were elevated by the brilliance of Eric Knechtges and his musicians.
Thank you Eric!
I’m always enlightened and entertained, pushed and prodded, inspired and engulfed by the talented poet behind A 1,000 Voices, who maintains one of the first and perhaps one of the finest poetry blogs I stumbled across on WordPress. I particularly enjoy the recurring play on things Southern.
Check it out.
My favorites? A Geography of Love. What They Won’t Tell You. Matriarch. When the Redneck Insurance Appraiser Calls.
Visit. Read. Enjoy. Add to your blogrolls.
No pressure to keep writing, Telly. 
