While I didn't know Jason, a good friend of mine did.
My friend and I were both taken aback by the power, by the intensity and integrity of the emotions evident in Jason's published poems after he became terminally ill.
I don't know that Jason found his subject to be death per se . . . so much as his recognition of death coming gave him the power to cut the chains that bound his artistic spirit.
The poems shared to date have the same intensity as Plath's last works . . . a bare knuckled brawl with the demons and issues that most matter.
I look forward to the final collection that Jason's friends (Sophie Cabot Black, Marie Howe, Lucie Brock-Broido, and Tony Hoagland) are editing. On the one hand, I am sure it will make us wish he'd lived longer, to give us more of these highly charged poems . . . on the other hand, it will be a wonderful testament to a poet who let his gifts soar through the final days he was allowed to experience.
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