This is a collection of poetry written by B.A. O’Connell in grad school dealing with their perceptions and struggles as a queer, mentally ill Catholic and what that means for themselves and their faith.
It deals artfully with the feelings of contradictions and the push and pull inside their person. They clearly believe heavily in God, but have a hard time feeling as if they are truly living their faith–while at the same time being authentically themselves. The collection has many powerful and moving images–such as the idea of what the idea of God means in the mind of a mentally ill person such as themselves or what it means to need an illness to cope with life around them and whether that means they are still doing their moral best to be a good person.
The imagery is sure to stay with the reader, and the poet has worked carefully to make things beautiful even in tn the subjects inherit rawness. The images can be shocking, but never without purpose.
The poet invites you to travel this snapshot of their journey with them and hopes that you will find a new way to think about the age old question of what does it mean to believe?
VISPO 