Feats of Alchemy

Book excerpt: In his sophomore collection of poems, Donny Winter takes readers on a perilous adventure through a futuristic and dystopian world. His experimental free verse poems use science fiction, natural, and pop cultural images to metaphorically illustrate his experiences as a gay man navigating the different obstacles society presents after coming out. These poems create a cyberpunk inspired, symbolic world centered around the cyborg, Solus Arcane, who seeks to understand their existence free of oppressive forces and strives to unlearn the programming given to them by their oppressive creator. Together, our bodies are welded and soldered by the forces of those seeking to silence, erase, or oppress. Feats of Alchemy acts as a circuit board connecting us with pathways toward a self-sovereignty beyond artifice.