Minimalist poems are loosely defined but influenced by forms like haiku and focus on being concise by eliminating unnecessary words. They do not rely on narrative elements like characters, scenes, or specific events and instead focus on individual words or typography by varying font, spacing, and size. Minimalist poetry emphasizes visual representation through the shape and placement of words on the page rather than just meaning.

1. WHAT ARE MINIMALIST POEMS

2. MINIMALIST
 Is loosely defined….
 Influenced by concrete poetry, Japanese haiku,
among others.
 Has specific characteristics that make it unique.

3. LACK OF NARRATIVE
 does not rely on story or narrative
 It is concise and eliminating any unnecessary
words.
 Minimalist poems do not seek to set scenes,
introduce characters or provide descriptions of
specific actions or events.

4. FOCUS ON WORDS
 A minimalist poem is focused specifically on words
or even one word.
 Ex. Poets such as Aram Saroyan and Richard
Kostelanetz wrote the first one-word poems of the
minimalist movement in the 1960s.
 Aram Saroyan's poem "lighght," consisting of only
this one word, is one of the most famous examples
of one-word minimalist poetry.

5. TYPOGRAPHY
 variation and visual interest in their poems by
playing with font, spaces between letters and size
of letters.
 A famous example of this is Richard Kostelanetz's
sequence "Genesis," in which each word
represents one day of creation and is characterized
by a different font type, color, and text arrangement.

6. SHAPE
 Minimalist poetry is about visual representation.
 One- or two-word poems don't rely simply on
meaning for effect, the shape and placement of
those words on the page can make a significant
impact.

7. H0pe
there it is
a part of me
some originality
i can save the world
would i
want to
see me
in you
i know
its true
its the way i feel
could it be real
in another time
and i lay down
in this rusty town
no one knows why
why give yourself to
anyone
i hurt
i follow it down
follow
it down into reality
down into reality