Bryan Borland’s third poetry collection examines what it means to dig—to undertake the intense labor of unearthing the personal/political/artistic self and embracing the consequences of that knowledge. The poet recognizes that “[t]he world needs another love poem / like it needs blood in the throat,” yet seeks to commune with the sanctity of flesh, offering the language of his body. These poems assert that to dig is to reveal the bedrock on which we may rebuild ourselves; to discover the b...

Poems touching on religion, sexuality, Southern life, and self-acceptance reveal the poet's growing up, coming out, and becoming an adult in all its joys and sorrows. My Life as Adam is Bryan Borland's full-length debut and was included as one of only five collections of poetry on the American Library Association's inaugural "Over the Rainbow" list of best LGBT books of 2010.Says reviewer Grady Harp: `You have to have been there…' No, this insensitive statement regarding whether or...

We aren't always aware of the impact our actions have on others. When we brushed against an arm on the subway, did we send electricity up his spine? When we broke it off after three months, did we scar her for life? When we opened the door for the elderly man, did we remind him that he wasn't alone? The truth is that each of us live on an island, skimming rocks into the ocean. We have no idea whether those ripples we create become beauty or chaos. And when the doorbell rings and we find an...