It is 12:20 in New York a Friday/ three days after Bastille day yes
The first two lines establish the poem's time and place, which will be crucial to the tone and atmosphere as the poem progresses. The fast-paced, dynamic setting of New York City contributes to the force of O'Hara's verse, as the poet's repeated use of "and" pushes the poem forward to the revelation of Holiday's death at the end. These lines tell us something about the speaker's character: "three days after Bastille day" suggests his awareness of French culture and history, and the significance of these things in his life. We also get a sense of the speaker's voice, with the "yes" he adds to the second line as he confirms the date. This addition also alerts us to the poem's stream-of-consciousness style.
"I don't know the people who will feed me"
The speaker's ignorance of his evening's hosts emphasizes the extent to witch the speaker is swept up within the pace of the city. He goes wherever the day, or the night, takes him.
"...she whispered a song along the keyboard/ to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing"
The final two lines slow down the poem's fast pace, eventually bringing the poem, and the speaker's memory, to a halt. We know that, when he heard Holiday perform, he didn't truly stop breathing—he's still living now, as he recollects the moment—but we feel the weight of this moment, and we can imagine how it must have felt to be in that room.
