Review of Poem ‘Minimalist Poetry’ by Elmedin Kadric

 Poem ‘Minimalist Poetry’ by Elmedin Kadric

I request readers to please read the poem first from the above link and then only my review. Thanks.

Do you love (the genre) poetry? Do you follow various forms of poetry like haiku and minimalist poems too? If you are one, appreciation of Elmedin Kadric’s poem ‘Minimalist Poetry’ won’t be difficult. We find visualization and metaphors are comparable between minimalist poems and other (main stream) poems. The minimalist poet is probably too ruthless in cutting down number of words of a poem compared to main stream poets. The question before the reader is how do I get what the poet is driving home without minimum narration and elaboration? This is a very genuine and reasonable question. Let’s review this poem and find out whether we have an answer for this question.

The poem’s ending part luckily is somewhat narrative. In contrast the poem has only scattered metaphors initially and the final part of the poem ‘e’ is a one letter word, which is also a metaphor. From these metaphors the reader must decipher how far the work is poetic and whether the poem is poignant with powerful content. The reader can also try to find out whether there is a subtle sequential continuity in the scattered metaphors.

First metaphor ‘his word on paper an eggshell missing a prayer’ is about an expression that missed the intended meaning prayer.

Second metaphor ‘grown to rain on alone’ signifies the plant in question is not part of a well maintained garden and is in the wilderness of a forest. Actually the expression won’t conform to English grammar. The next metaphor ‘of each fragrance not with it’ supplements the previous one. And ‘dry hush of leaves laid off’ signifies autumn. A wasp in an evening symbolizes freedom.

Finally the poet has made a mathematical formula ‘e’ a metaphor. Popularly known as ‘Euler’s number’ e is a mathematical constant and it’s the base of natural logarithm. Poet has chosen this, because the formula to derive e’s value has two infinite factors ‘n’. The value of e is known when the finite value of n is applied in the formula and will vary whenever the finite value of n is changed.

Initially we found an incomplete expression on paper and the end the value of e is infinite and varies when finite values are factors. In between we find seasons, places where a plant grows and changing ambience of a day as day ends and evening sets in. Varying ambience, time and seasons signify we find something different from the same thing when another factor varies.

Can there be a better definition of the fiber of the world than change? Within the world everything from culture, values and living conditions vary geographically. And the world keeps changing from time to time, for different people differently.

Before concluding I must mention the effort of the poet is not to dilute the vast and vigorous fiber of humanity into a mathematical constant. He is just opening so many windows with this yardstick. We need to start an analysis somewhere with some yardstick to analyze something of too enormous a magnitude. That exercise is artistic, intellectual, engrossing and a collective introspection too.

The process of creation of poem and the metaphors bring out rich content for creative reading and the poet has succeeded in handling a complex theme with an abstract expression.