Unfortunately, the situation in which the world collapsed and the ban on cultural events in the country imposed did not allow Ludmila Mindova's new poem to be presented to the public. And she is certainly not the only one. However, this does not prevent you from presenting it here, as well as inviting you to order it online while it is still available. If there is something good, it is that reading continues to be a safe and rewarding activity, and time is increasing. But let's talk about the book itself.

 

The Tree of Memory (Ergo Publishing) verse seems to be coming just in time to tell us how important it is to remember some people, events, and being human. The book is full of images. It prompts us to look inward, at ourselves, and at that time in the world that has brought together such great names from the world of literature as: Anna Akhmatova, Alesh Debelyak, Romain Gary, Tadeusz Ruzhevich, Elias Canetti, Tomazh Shalamun, Danilo Kish and many more. This is a book that brings to the fore the need for memory. It is our duty to preserve the memory of what was and is what ultimately makes us who we are. It is not only about personal memory, family memory, etc. It is about the memory of humanity not as a biological species, but as a spirituality.

Ludmila Mindova seamlessly captures us in the world flow of thoughts, ideas, destinies, experiences, immersing us in memory, a trace of the past that is as common as the individual. One memory is never alone, because it contains at least two subjects - the memory and the memory - with the whole microcosm that they both carry and which is inextricably linked to the macrocosm and alien memories, leaving a trailer for some alien life destinies. The whole series of poems, dedicated to famous Bulgarian and international authors, is interesting. In them, Ludmila not only mentions their names, but talks to them as if they are still here, still with us, or even closer. Because in life, distance often divides us, but in death it does not exist, and every deceased can be summoned, if not alive, then at least in the memory and in our thoughts the conversation will happen.

 

In addition to talking, this is also a book about silence. For that silence that fills our lives and gives it meaning, because it brings together in one moment the past, present and future, that is, all eternity. The silence we keep in our memory so that we are focused on the noisy everyday life of our human time and when we "seek a way to escape from the darkness within" (Sonnets of Absence 2). And sometimes we write because there is no surer way to seal the memory except through the word.

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Only a little, very little, and the city will wake up,
this fragile silence will melt away with the fog.
So now I'm writing too fast,
to cultivate it later as a rare color in my soul.

 

I was very impressed by the poem whose name the book bears. It is dedicated to Danilo Kish and the words continue to sound in me for a long time:

 

I used to eat figs when I was a kid,
because someone else had planted them earlier.

 

PS So holy, Danilo, your memory tree
for fathers without a grave… For fathers-gardens.

 

This is the meaning of the poetry that the great poets bequeathed to future generations in order to have bread for her soul or figs. We do not always realize how important the words left in the verses are and how they not only testify to a past life, but are also the seed from which we germinate as individuals, as creators and as people.

I like that the book addresses the topic of memory, not only as a must-go, to remember who we are and who we were before, but also to the memory as something that prevents us from going from one stage of life to another . Like anything else, memory is a double-edged sword, as the world is initially built and held in opposition. The "Quietest" poem is a testimony to how time continues to flow, but we remain locked in the memory and lag behind its course, locked in the drawer with our memories.

Memory is a comfort, because in man there is always a fear of abandonment, of loneliness. But we also carry this loneliness with us. What Ludmila writes in Marina Nostalgia: “And more: with our last cell, let us know that our bodies are loneliness.” That is why we are constantly looking for the closeness and warmth of another body. Like poetry, it seeks to connect with other poetry, with other lives - past and future.

 

That is why memory is so important. That is why Ludmila Mindova introduced him as the main character of the action in this book. Because, although a collection of individual poems, this book has a whole and consistency in the way we see it. And human memories grow into a common tree that bears the fruits and seeds of those who will remember after us. For me, the book is not just a poem, it is a novel about people, poets, time, memories.

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