‘Anti-Philosophical Deep Dreams’ by Sudeep Adhikari: A Review

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Review

By

Wayne F Burke

I love Sudeep Adhikari‘s poetry for its great depth of thought, and for its oftentimes raw emotionalism.

Connected to the universe, or multiverse, of “supreme nothing,” the “I” of the speaker of these poems reflects, like a prism, the multiplicity of a radiant nothingness. The self as singular but the same, in unison but apart, and ever becoming in never-ending transformations of flux.

A consideration of condition of being, these poems never cease questioning. Sudeep asks of the sky: “who are you…a voluptuous dream/or a cosmic non-being/or a delirious rapture/of a lonely enchantress?”

He explores an “ever-present absence…from unknown cores/ of (his) geological depth.” Tries to make some sense “out of seething plasma of/our ornate absurd.” Confronts absence and absurdity, and finds much loneliness, despair, melancholy, anxiety, and angst, in a “dreadful void” of the “superunknown.” But, though it is “the loneliest thing to be alive…in this cosmic oneness,” he is able to be the universe of his universe, and his own buddha, and, as such, gets to search his “deathless center/within the perimeter of all (his) mortal fears.” A “lonely situation,” as the American poet Alan Dugan wrote, but one not (I think Sudeep would agree) irredeemable or a hindrance to joyfulness.

Though awash in the jargon of science and speculative thought, these poems are not cold or unemotional. The humanness of the work, evident throughout, makes for poetry not treatise. The poet’s confusion and questing–his all too human response to existential dilemma of life, is captured in “i passed out on a couple of 48-ounces/of colt-45 to wake up at the middle/of the night/to talk to the moon…” A personal “I”–in relationship with son, wife, mother, others, and self, in an impersonal cosmos…

Sudeep is a poet both book-wise and street-smart, able to meld the language of teleology and religiosity to common usage to create a beauteous whole. A marvel of poetic engineering.

Anti-Philosophical Deep Dreams is published by Pski’s Porch and can be purchased here

Sudeep Adhikari

Sudeep Adhikari from Kathmandu (Nepal) is professionally a PhD in Structural Engineering. He lives in Kathmandu with his family and works as an Engineering-Consultant/Part-time Lecturer. He is a keen observer of inter-disciplinary dynamics between science, philosophy, religion, literature, music, mathematics and psychology, and its implications on the epistemological foundation of human ideas. His poetry has also found its place in more than 40 literary journals/magazines (online, print) across the world. The author can be reached at [email protected].

Wayne F Burke

Wayne F. Burke’s poetry has appeared in a variety of publications (including Tuck Magazine). His three published poetry collections, all from Bareback Press, are WORDS THAT BURN, DICKHEAD, and KNUCKLE SANDWICHES. His chapbook PADDY WAGON is published by Epic Rites Press. He lives in the state of Vermont (USA).