NPM Day 27

Today's suggested reading is Bryan Borland's second collection Less Fortunate Pirates (Sibling Rivalry Press 2012).
These poems chronicle Borland's first year after his father's tragic death.
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.
This book made me a huge fan of Bryan's poetry. The poems are incredibly moving and perceptive, avoiding what could easily have become overly sentimental poetry. That's never the case here, though, as each of these sharp and smart, difficult poems get to the heart of loss with devastating honesty and heart.
These are, simply put, some of the best elegies in contemporary poetry. It's such a privilege to know Bryan and work with him at SRP. Knowing what a talented poet he is, it's no surprise the great care Bryan takes with the poems he publishes.