Pirates

(This post originally appeared in August 2013 but was lost when the server was hacked in 2015. This is a recovered version.)

Pirates

Years and years went into that book. Each page

was typeset. Each word was chosen and checked.

Friends, strangers, family, enemies: your voices

are all in there. I had to publish it

for work, prestige, a job. The publisher

ate carrion, got rich, used us all. For you

I sought a cheap, ‘Asian’, edition and

the publisher held back till I called in

the law. And now you’ve pirated my book.

I thank you so much. You’re who it was for.