Jim Lenfestey

To set out to write 100 poems in the style of Han-shan, a Chinese poet from the T'ang Dynasty, might seem like an overly arcane, indulgent, and boring ambition. At the tip of James Lenfestey's pen, however, the project is more like a romp. Humorous and concise in its observations, Lenfestey's poetry is accessible to even the biggest poetry haters, without losing any intensity of language. He describes grandparents anticipating the arrival of visiting grandchildren as "steadying the world of the web, feeling again its tremble." The content is fresh and contemporary, in spite of being modeled after a long-dead scribe. Lenfestey even commiserates with naysayers: "I read so many poems eager not to like them/And so many make it easy." Like those of his role models, Lenfestey's poems are short. A line from "Often I Wonder" can apply to either master or protégé: "Now I hand out his poems/'Take two,' I say, 'they're small.'"
Mon., Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m., 2007