Jim Feast reads from (a strange awakening of light that takes the place of dawn)

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The work Jim Feast did in his early twenties in Chicago, (a strange awakening of light that takes the place of dawn), is a testimony to the grit and will of a young man who wants to be a poet. Determination is in every poem on every page striving to be as good as those that came before it, and it is one of the things that makes them so exciting

Inspired by an essay by Frank O’Hara, Feast finds his muse in those he knows and writes to them. Lady Bunny, one of the movers and shakers in the Chicago art scene at the time, gets a lot of his affection and attention, and gives the book its perspective and direction. Many of the poems are written to women he works with, women he loves requited and unrequited. Sonnets, odes, elegies, ballads, and koans flow from his pen, new wine in old bottles to be both drunk and spilled.

In the Vimeo below the poet talks about his early work from (a strange awakening of light that takes the place of dawn), and reads some of the poems including an epic for Hart Crane. Enjoy.

Jim Feast reads from (a strange awakening of light that takes the place of dawn)) from Don Yorty on Vimeo.

A Sonnet Sequence

Jim Feast’s early poems make me think about words and how to use them, all the while enjoying them, thinking and feeling at the same time. Reading the five sonnets that follow makes me young again. You can click on the poems to enlarge them.