Elegy

Aaron and James stop all the clocks with this episode exploring elegy.

Support Breaking Form and buy James's and Aaron's new books:
Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.
James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.

Watch the iconic scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral in which Auden's "Funeral Blues" is read.

Listen to Dylan Thomas read "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" here. A stirring and unforgettable performance of the poem by Michael Sheen is worth your time here.

Listen to Lorca's "Despedida" read here by Eduardo Montes-Bradley. Translated as "Farewell," you can read the poem in an English version here. Another is here.

Check out Kathy Fagan's website and online poems here. Buy Bad Hobby here.

Read Robert Cording's poem "Elegy for John, My Student Dead of AIDS" (which Aaron highlights in the show)  here. 

You can read James L. White's fabulous "Making Love to Myself" here.

The National Institute of Mental Health has a good FAQ about suicide, ideation, and helping those you love to cope with these things.

Text or call 988 for a 24-hour suicide hotline.

Read here for a discussion of what happens if/when you disclose suicidal ideation to a therapist, including the therapist's legal obligations to report or not. The site is supported by Mental Health America, a leading nonprofit community-based organization promoting mental health awareness .

Translifeline is a text / call-based hotline which has a policy against non-consensual active rescue, which means they will not call emergency services or law enforcement without your explicit request – even if you tell them you or someone else is in danger. They are required to alert authorities if they think a minor is being emotionally or physically abused or neglected, or they believe that the caller intends to harm someone else.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

The Trevor Project (for queer youth)
Trevor Lifeline: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386)