Patrick Grace writes with emotion in his poetry collection ‘Deviant’
Feeling like you’re different is an emotional experience expressed powerfully in the poetry collection 'Deviant' by Patrick Grace.
SuppliedTrigger Warning: This article discusses topics related to mental health and domestic abuse that some readers may find upsetting. Resources are available at the end of the article.
What happens when you feel like a deviant? How does this affect your life, relationships, and well-being? Is deviance good? Bad? Both? Patrick Grace explores this concept by sharing his experiences of feeling like an outsider in his collection of poems, Deviant.
Grace is a Vancouver-based poet published in multiple Canadian literary magazines. He has published two chapbooks, including Dastardly and a blurred wind swirls back for you. Deviant is his first full-length work. Grace’s poems speak to growing up gay, the passion of love and lust, mental health, and domestic abuse, taking the reader on an emotional journey.
The most compelling poem of the collection is Soft Stalker, which creates a heavy atmosphere. It has an experimental style of layering lines, and using unusual spacing between them. This technique demonstrates how complicated and messy domestic abuse experiences can be. By using metaphor, Grace brings the reader into his world. He does not need to explicitly say “domestic abuse” when he can say “I forgave him for forgetting the heady violence.”
Grace does not stray away from difficult topics of suicidal ideation and domestic abuse, which makes the book an impactful read. Although he’s tackling heavier topics, Grace’s use of imagery to tell bigger stories makes his work approachable and satisfying to read.
For instance, in the poem Arthur, Grace describes a moment of queer joy by an Okanagan lakeside dock. Readers don’t need to hear the whole story because Grace gives context in the lines “we were equal / parts / queer and water / loosening canoe ropes / off their cleats / hands full / of boyish desire / in the late air.” These snapshots bring relief to an overall deep and sad collection, and highlights the creativity of Grace’s imagery.
Every line packs a punch. A reader does not need to relate to Grace’s specific experiences to feel breathless by the power of his words. For instance, in the poem You Look Older, the first lines read “these aren’t words I want to hear as he finds his clothes,” referring to the poem’s title. The awkwardness oozes from his statement, and creates empathy with his situation.
Overall, the author does an excellent job of sharing the experiences of domestic abuse survivors from a 2SLGBTQ+ perspective. Although the content is difficult and the metaphors are complicated, the imagery and emotion-based writing makes the work approachable for people with different perspectives. While the poems are specific to his own experiences and life, Grace’s work speaks to the human condition.
If you are dealing with thoughts of suicidal ideation you can call the 24-hour Canada-wide crisis service hotline: 1-833-456-4566. If you or someone you know is dealing with intimate partner/domestic violence, resources can be found here.
