“Lighght” (1965)
Through his single word poems that he released in the 1960s, American writer, Aram Saroyen, became well known throughout the literary community. With the publication of his poem “lighght” (pictured above) in 1965, Saroyen won a spot in the second volume of the American Literary Anthology, $500, and the resent of many conservatives who begrudgingly had paid Saroyen the $500 of taxpayers money through the newly established National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Aside from the historical context of this poem as being one of the first examples of the right wanting to cut federal funds from humanities and the arts, “lighght” pushes the boundaries of the economy of language. As a single word, this poem can be experienced in an instance and is quite aesthetically pleasing, as well as minimal. Aside from that, I do not have much more to say about this aside from it being small and therefore an example of literary minimalism??
Literary Minimalism Anthology 