A Socially Acceptable Breakdown

by Patrick Roche

Overview

2022 Eric Hoffer Awards - Poetry Finalist

A poetry collection pulling from the author's personal narrative to take the reader on a journey through family, mental health, grief, pop culture, body image, queer identity, love, joy, memory, myth, and magic. The collection follows a trajectory of 1) exploring identity, avoidance, escapism, and shame, then 2) facing and confronting fears, shame, grief, and self-image, and finally 3) breaking down stigma, searching for joy, finding self-acceptance, and the value of storytelling and sharing as a tool to connect, love, and choose progress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943735983
Publisher:	Button Poetry
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Series:	Button Poetry
Pages:	88
Sales rank:	1,013,024
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Patrick Roche is an award-winning poet, mental health advocate, and Carly Rae Jepsen enthusiast from New Jersey. Videos of Patrick's work have amassed 9 million views on YouTube. Patrick has competed or been featured at multiple national and international competitions and festivals. He has shared stages with Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of RUN DMC, Pitch Perfect star Brittany Snow, and many more. Patrick's work has appeared in or been published by Button Poetry, UpWorthy, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, MSN, Beech Street Review, Gal Pals Present, Freezeray Press, Voicemail Poems, and his mom's fridge. He is based out of Nutley, NJ.

Table of Contents

I.

Fairy Tale 1

Lazarus Taking My Antidepressants 3

Retcon 4

The Stranger 6

Roscoe 7

Self-Portrait as Piranha Plant 8

Suburbs in July 10

December 27th, My Birthday 12

Gravity 14

Carly Rae Jepsen Announces Her Next Album's Release Date 16

Hudson 18

Icarus 19

Couples Therapy 20

II.

Canonization 25

My Brain Plays a Game of Telephone 26

21 28

Ode to Vitamin D 30

Commit 31

Hocus Pocus 32

Lafayette Street 35

Siri 36

Poem in Which Flowers Are Replaced by My Brain 39

Scheherazade 41

Sonnet for Free Wi-Fi 43

Love Song 44

Jesus Bring My Father 45

Ode to My Unread Messages 46

III.

In Which My Mother's Prayers Teach Me about Joy 51

Ode to My Infant Nephew's Crying 54

Ursula Revisited 55

Ghazal for My Grandmother 57

In Which I Meet My Father for the First Time Since His Death 59

Instructions on Having the Perfect Panic Attack 61

Self-Portrait as Opossum 63

Every 40 Seconds 64

Orpheus Is My Boyfriend 67

Ode to Streetlights 68

Poem to Be Read Forward and Backward 70

Volcano 72

Everything My Brain Knows, It Learned from Drag 74

Open Letter to the Author 76

Acknowledgments 79

About the Author 82