Another Pirate Story
At the pentagon, the holiday spirit is in full swing. Cannibalism tends to bring people together. Fortunately, I’m in touch with myself, although like opposable thumbs, I don’t take it personally. This year, Satan is doing my income taxes. He’s a likable enough guy, although he says he finds it too dark in the shadows and too bright in the light. Of course, that’s not necessarily going to put food on the table. While some say there is safety in numbers, there is no safety; only numbers. In fact, in spite of my wanton attitude toward pleasure, carnality, and decadence, I don’t care for your reckless, cheating ways. You are, however, my treasure island, my little mermaid. That’s why I wear an eyepatch, shoulder a colorful parrot, and sport a wooden leg. That’s why whenever I sail toward your lush and verdant isle, the bumper sticker on the stern of my galleon reads, How’s my driving?
Mini-interview with Brad Rose
HFR: Can you share a moment that has shaped you as a writer (or continues to)?
BR: About 15 years ago, when I was in my mid-50s. I started writing, or more accurately, restarted writing, following a thirty-year writing hiatus. Because I am now a “vintage” writer, there have been more than a few moments that have shaped me. I began writing poetry when I was 12, writing my first poem in response to the death of a family friend. I wrote poetry in high school, and later earned a BA in English literature from UCLA. In college, I was lucky to meet folks who encouraged me to write, and I wrote periodically through my 20s and 30s. My career has been pretty diverse, and I’ve worked in wide-range of occupations, including railway worker, emergency room clerk, instructional designer, organizational consultant, Assistant Director of a national nonprofit, and for the last 30 years, as a program evaluator in the education and non-profit sectors. My career has brought me into contact with a wide range of folks whose stories, personalities, and lives have influenced, both directly and indirectly, what I think about and how I approach my current writing.
HFR: What are you reading?
BR: I tend to read a variety of things concurrently. I read a range of periodicals, including: New Scientist, Scientific American, The New Yorker, The Times Literary Supplement, New York Review of Books, The Nation, The Atlantic, and Poetry. On the fiction front, I’m now reading Anna Karenina. Because I am a slow reader, and I read a bunch of stuff simultaneously, it will probably take me a year to finish Anna Karenina. Last summer I finished reading Les Misérables, which took me two years to complete. A few weeks ago, I finished re-reading Richard Brautigan’s Revenge of the Lawn, which I originally read 50 years ago. I’m also now reading New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, edited by James Thomas & Robert Scotellaro.
HFR: Can you tell us what prompted “Another Pirate Story”?
BR: I think the opening lines are influenced by the barbarism that seems to currently reign, or is at least, palpably prevalent in the world. In recent years, under the pressure of what seems an often-incomprehensibly distorted American social and political reality, I’ve increasingly become a bit of a “neo” Dadaist/Surrealist. My writing tends to combine the bizarre, the seemingly impossible, and the commonplace. I draw heavily on idiomatic expressions and everyday speech. I hope my pieces embody both the shock of the malevolent and a sense of humor. Sometimes, they are a little ridiculous, too.
HFR: What’s next? What are you working on?
BR: I’ve just completed a new manuscript of prose poems, titled, I Wouldn’t Say That, Exactly. Now begins the daunting process of finding a publisher. I’ve also started another manuscript of prose poems which is provisionally called, Is This a Trick Question? I hope to finish Is This a Trick Question? within a year (knock on wood).
HFR: Take the floor. Be political. Be fanatical. Be anything. What do you want to share?
BR: There are so many existing and pending disasters in the world today. Sadly, it’s difficult to choose one to lament and to be outraged about. In regard to national politics in the US, I’m mostly concerned (and incredulous) that so many Americans are susceptible to the incoherent ravings of a malignant narcissist conman who aspires to be America’s Mussolini. Mansy of these citizens are desperate people, enabled by a desperate, opportunist political party, which has nothing to offer its populist supporters but racism, economic austerity, a nostalgic reference to a mythic American past, and a profusion of “culture wars.” I also understand that “the system” has failed many, many Americans, both economically and psychologically, and has set up millions to fall for a self-aggrandizing conman who proclaims, “Only I can save you.” American Fascism, if it occurs, will prove to be a catastrophe, not least of all for its deluded supporters.
Brad Rose was born and raised in Los Angeles, and lives in Boston. He is the author of five collections of poetry and flash fiction: Lucky Animals, No. Wait. I Can Explain, Pink X-Ray, de/tonations, and Momentary Turbulence. His poetry collection WordInEdgeWise, is forthcoming. Eight times nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and three times nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology, his poetry and fiction have appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, The Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Review, New York Quarterly, Lunch Ticket, Puerto del Sol, Clockhouse, Folio, Best Microfiction (2019), and other journals and anthologies. His website is bradrosepoetry.com His blog is bradrosepoetry.com/blog.
Check out HFR’s book catalog, publicity list, submission manager, and buy merch from our Spring store. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube. Disclosure: HFR is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Sales from Bookshop.org help support independent bookstores and small presses.
Heavy Feather Review 