Review of Hieu Minh Nguyen’s Poem ‘Chasm’

 

https://poems.com/poem/chasm-2/

Review of Hieu Minh Nguyen’s Poem ‘Chasm’

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

The title ‘Chasm’ points to the ever widening gap between the affluent and the poor. In a parallel thread the title is relatable to the difference between those who are shrewd enough to grab opportunities and the others in the dark. The poem is layered and subtle. It has left so much for the reader to infer. The poet is in no way judgmental. He leaves it to the reader to find out whether the plight of the Vietnamese is pathetic or the man who married an American woman (of Vietnamese origin) is too selfish. The poem also elaborates what happened to those who had no other go but to remain in Vietnam. The aftermath of a war is prolonged suffering for the survivors. The struggle for survival dries up the bonding in relationships. Only the utility angle of a relationship remains. The poem’s narrative swaps between micro and macro and subtly indicates that narrator’s father’s both women lead a miserable life. Whilst the first wife was all alone towards the end of her life, the second wife always lived in fear and was anxious about her life. The poem is like an existentialist fiction.

The poet reminds us about the lives lost and the poem finds even loss of human lives is a nonevent. Poor nations and their citizens’ plight never receive the attention of the developed ones excepting when there is a chance to showcase their military might and try out their latest inventions in weapons. The pandemic proved to the world that affluence doesn’t offer immunity from epidemics. The world hasn’t woken up even after the pandemic. In the same way world leaders haven’t learnt anything from wars. Poems need not propaganda anything, nor would it be fitting for a work of art. But poetry is the crispest and sharpest of all the genres. So the poet has chosen this as a vehicle.