Gospel drunk / Aidan Chafe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chafe, Aidan, 1983- author.

Series:

Robert Kroetsch series

Language:

English

Genre:

Poetry.

Physical Description:

77 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada : University of Alberta Press, [2021]

Summary:

"Aidan Chafe's Gospel Drunk is a personal journey to find clarity and identity in the face of alcoholism and religion. Sharp, intoxicating imagery and a gutsy, minimalist aesthetic combine in these poems to explore some of our darkest and strongest belief systems, dismantling them with wit and wisdom. An impressive mix of tightly-crafted lyric and prose poetry touch on content that ranges from poignant boyhood memories of hockey coaches as 'dragons in suits' to critiques of what the poet calls 'the broken bicycle of recovery.' A child's fingers interlace to form a gun during mass, Hulk attends an AA meeting, and God creates sound 'as a blunt object.' Chafe's own struggle with loneliness and alcohol addiction gave life to these poems, along with his search for identity as a young man growing up in a Catholic household. Unflinchingly honest in its interrogation of religious dogma, white privilege, and violence, Gospel Drunk is for all who seek salvation and humanity in a world where the personal and the political are equally complicated."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

I

Disciple p. 2

Galileo p. 3

Trust p. 4

Helmets and Gloves p. 5

Social Development p. 6

Ode to the Hockey Bro p. 7

Churches, Trucks and Shallow Pools p. 8

Driving Through Kitsilano p. 10

Suburban Lament p. 11

Two Lips p. 12

Fall of the Empire p. 13

Meditation on Enclosed Space p. 14

This Might Be the Warmest Parking Lot in Canada p. 16

Another Seasonal Poem p. 17

We Are Bioluminescent p. 19

Passage p. 20

II

Struggling Protagonist p. 22

Indelible p. 23

Sizing Up p. 24

The Light Salesmen p. 25

Prayer in the Age of Unreason p. 26

Mary Too p. 27

Sacrificial Sons p. 29

Eternal Optimist p. 31

Land in the Name of Taking p. 33

Suffering as Spectacle p. 34

Holes p. 35

Hard Rain p. 36

Sonnet in Defence of Lust p. 37

Nothing Written Is Sacred p. 38

III

Gun Journal p. 40

Safety Rules p. 47

The Strongman p. 48

The Activist p. 49

Eyes of the Assailant p. 50

Good Men p. 51

Colonial Chokehold p. 52

Fallen p. 53

Superhero AA p. 54

Epistle of the Inebriate p. 55

Empty p. 56

Ode to Ruin p. 57

Drowning Man Sonnets p. 58.

Notes:

Poems.

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Online version: Chafe, Aidan, 1983- Gospel drunk.

ISBN:

9781772125467

1772125466

OCLC:

1162528394