Auguries of a Minor God by Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe is split into two sections. The first, a five-part series of poems about love and pain. They are filled with references to myths and stories and other poems. So much so that there is a list of each reference at the end of the book.
This conglomerate style of poetry extends further into the words in the poem themselves. Eipe often will omit spaces between words to give them a new sense. Words will be said allatonce. I find this to be a really fascinating choice.
And the second section, A is for العرب [Arabs], is a long narrative poem
based on a Fibonacci sequence.
Basically, every line starts with the same letter. To make it more
Clear, I'll be writing this blog in the same way. Although
Capturing the same rolling feel that Eipe has might be
Challenging.
Don't worry! I won't go on for as long as she
Does. A is for العرب [Arabs] is roughly about one family
Dealing with the inherent
Dangers of both immigrating and
escaping.
Even relatively safe as they are in their new home,
Even as the children go to school and live their liv
-es, the father is
enveloped in pain and love.
Every day he moves not as an
expat, that western term for moving from "higher" to "lower", but as an
enemy. He sees how Arabs are portrayed in media. So he turns to r
-eligion. The poem is deeply immersed in it. Halfway in,
it becomes a
fervent prayer. The "O" section made up solely
from a reproduction of The Quran. The
father reels from a reminder of his wife,
forever lost to him and his
family but for their memories. The poems in this collection
flow and pulse
like
frothy waves sizzling on the sand.
Fixating on the form of the poem is tempting. What
Feels like endless lines, perfectly oriented, cascade
over you.
Find space to hear them too, not just see them.
Friends, I encourage you to read these poems.
For they are beauty
Filled.
Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Auguries of a Minor God. London: Faber and Faber, 2021. Koller-Collins PR9499.3 .E33 A85 2021
