Saturday, July 14, 2018

GROWING WITHIN (English text only)

Ram Krishna Singh
Growing Within
Desăvârşire lăuntrică


                                                 GROWING WITHIN
                                       HAIKU TANKA & OTHER POEMS

                                               Desavarsire launtrica
                                            haiku, tanka şi alte poeme
                              



                                         


                                          RAM KRISHNA SINGH
                                        Traducerea din limba engleză:
                                           Alexandra Flora Munteanu
                                                   Taner Murat
 






                                      Anticus Press, Constanța, 2017 







Asociația Multiculturală “Anticus”
Editura Anticus Press
Constanța
www.anticusmulticultural.org/press
press@anticusmulticultural.org
ISBN 978-606-94509-2-5


 



© 2017 Ram Krishna Singh. All rights reserved.










Foto coperta: Naga Sairam
Portretul autorului: Ferodin Iaia
Consilier editorial: Taner Murat






                                                             Servind scriitorii
                                                           Salvăm patrimoniul
                                                             Serving the writers
                                                             Saving the heritage

                                                          


                                                          Copyright © 2017
                           Toate drepturile asupra acestei ediţii sunt rezervate autorului 



                                                                                                                      GROWING WITHIN
                                                                                                       DESĂVÂRŞIRE LĂUNTRICĂ





ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank the editors of the following journals, zines and anthologies that carried some of the poems included in this volume:
The Moon Light of Corea, World Poetry Yearbook(2014),  Season’s Greetings Letter(SGL),  22 Samobor Haiku Meeting, 23 Samobor Haiku Meeting, 24 Samobor Haiku Meeting, Syndic Literary Journal, Nazar Look, Mainichi Daily News, Asahi Shimbun, Tanka Journal, ,  Cholla Needles, Poetcrit,68th Basho Festival Haiku Anthology, Fire Pearls2,  Sensexual: A Unique Anthology,  Research, Poetcrit, Cyber Literature, Bridge-in-Making, Conifers Call, Wild Plum, Three Line Poetry, Kernels, Subprimal Poetry, Poetry Nook, Diogen, Lynx, Protexto, Cultural Cotiporã, Modern Research Studies, Facebook, twitter.com, micropoetry.com, boloji.com, slideshare.net, dystenium.com, ezinearticles.com, PoemHunter.com,  and issuu.com.



PREFACE
I  revisited my poems composed during 1974 and  1975 in Deothang (Bhutan) besides some earlier poems composed in Varanasi, Lucknow and Delhi that now appear mere finger exercises in expression of romantic sentimentalism, repressed desires and frustrated passions and instincts. I edited/rewrote some of them in the form they now appear here.  It was indeed a different experience, altogether different, when I did My Silence (1985) and Music Must Sound (1990), available in the volumes of my collected poems, My Silence and Other Selected Poems: 1974-1994 (1996) and Sense and Silence: Collected Poems (2010). Previously unpublished, these ‘older’ poems, that is,  the thirty poems rediscovered from my Deothang diary, have acquired a fresh texture and an architecture of their own.  The poems, as in the past (cf. Sense and Silence), appear without a pattern and are untitled though they are numbered for individual identification.

In fact all the poems collected in the present volume should read better without their titles—these were all composed without titles integral to them—even if I have suspended them with titles to facilitate individual identification.  As earlier, I have also reshuffled  the time of their composition and artificially arranged them to create a sort of continuity, be it haiku, tanka or their sequences, or other shorter compositions that provide snapshots of daily life, images of nature, sex or loneliness, and my growing within.  Hope, readers will appreciate my exploitation of the medium which expresses my sensibility in interaction with quotidian phenomena, merging the natural and human.

I am thankful to Mr Taner Murat  for readily agreeing to publish my newest (seventeenth) collection of poems, with translation into Romanian, under the Editura StudIS imprint.

        Dhanbad, India                                                                R.K. Singh

September 28, 2017




 





 




Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................ 7
Mulțumiri .......................................................................... 8
PREFACE ............................................................................... 9
Prefață ............................................................................ 11
I. POEMS ............................................................................ 19
I. Poeme ............................................................................. 19
1. CLEANSING ................................................................. 20
Purificare ........................................................................ 21
2. LIVING IS EMPTYING ................................................... 22
Viața înseamnă secătuire ............................................... 23
3. JURNEYING ................................................................. 24
Călătorind ....................................................................... 25
4. LONELY JOURNEY ....................................................... 26
Călătorie solitară ............................................................ 27
5. WHO SEES ................................................................... 28
Cel ce vede...................................................................... 29
6. REST ............................................................................ 30
Odihnă ............................................................................ 31
7. LIFE EVADES ................................................................ 32
Viața se eschivează ......................................................... 33
8. NO ONE KNOWS ......................................................... 34
Nimeni nu ştie ................................................................ 35
9. POVERTY ..................................................................... 36
Ram Krishna Singh
14
Sărăcie ............................................................................ 37
10. HAZE ........................................................................... 38
Ceață ............................................................................... 39
11. A TRIBUTE ................................................................... 40
Omagiu ........................................................................... 41
12. FRUITY SMELL ............................................................. 42
Miros îmbietor ................................................................ 43
13. VASTU VIHAR - I ......................................................... 44
Vastu Vihar - I ................................................................. 45
14. PATCH ......................................................................... 46
Peticul ............................................................................. 47
15. FIRE ............................................................................. 48
Foc .................................................................................. 49
16. THE LIE’S SHADED ....................................................... 50
Născocirea-i umbrită ...................................................... 51
17. CONFUSED LIBERATION ............................................. 52
Eliberare confuză ............................................................ 53
18. VASTU VIHAR – II ....................................................... 54
Vastu Vihar - II ................................................................ 55
19. GROWING NUDE ........................................................ 56
Crescând fără veşminte .................................................. 57
20. PEACE IN SIN ............................................................... 58
Pacea păcatului .............................................................. 59
21. NUDE DELIGHT........................................................... 60
Desfătarea nudității ........................................................ 61
22. ECHOES HAUNT ......................................................... 62
Ecouri chinuitoare .......................................................... 63
GROWING WITHIN
DESĂVÂRŞIRE LĂUNTRICĂ
15
23. MOTH ......................................................................... 64
Molia ............................................................................... 65
24. ROTTING RIPENESS ..................................................... 66
Răscoacere ..................................................................... 67
25. TURNED OFF .............................................................. 68
Deconectată ................................................................... 69
26. TIDAL SWELL .............................................................. 70
Fluxul mareei .................................................................. 71
27. THE MUD .................................................................... 72
Nămolul .......................................................................... 73
28. LONELINESS TORMENTS THE SOUL ............................ 74
Singurătatea chinuie sufletul .......................................... 75
29. A POEM IS PROPHETIC ................................................ 76
O poezie este profetică .................................................. 77
30. NO, I WON’T ............................................................... 78
Nu, eu nu voi .................................................................. 79
31. KARMIC CHAKRA ........................................................ 80
Chakra Karmică ............................................................... 81
32. WHO CARES? ............................................................. 82
Cui îi pasă? ...................................................................... 83
33. SURVIVAL .................................................................... 84
Supraviețuire .................................................................. 85
34. CHHAT......................................................................... 86
Chhat .............................................................................. 87
35. GOD TOO DOZES......................................................... 88
Şi Dumnezeu picoteşte ................................................... 89
36. THERE’S NO TELLING .................................................. 90
Ram Krishna Singh
16
Nu ți se spune niciodată ................................................. 92
37. FILTH ........................................................................... 94
Mizerie ............................................................................ 95
38. SMALLNESS ................................................................. 96
Micime ............................................................................ 97
39. ADDICT ........................................................................ 98
Dependent ...................................................................... 99
40. CHANTING WITHIN ................................................... 100
Cânt lăuntric ................................................................. 101
41. DUMB DEITIES .......................................................... 102
Dumnezeu necuvântător .............................................. 103
42. SNAKY PATH ............................................................. 104
Cale șerpuită ................................................................. 105
43. DOWN SYNDROME ................................................... 106
Sindromul Down ........................................................... 107
44. VIRTUAL .................................................................... 108
Virtual ........................................................................... 109
45. DYING MODE ............................................................ 110
Un fel de a muri ............................................................ 111
46. TWILIGHT .................................................................. 112
Crepuscul ...................................................................... 113
47. LET IT GO .................................................................. 114
Uitare ............................................................................ 115
II. POEMS DISCOVERED FROM MY DEOTHANG DIARY:
NATURE, SEX AND LONELINESS ............................................ 117
II. Poezii descoperite în jurnalul meu din Bhutan: natură,
sex şi singurătate .................................................................. 117
1 - 30 ................................................................................. 119
GROWING WITHIN
DESĂVÂRŞIRE LĂUNTRICĂ
17
III. HAIKU SEQUENCES ...................................................... 141
III. Secvențe haiku ................................................................ 141
1. BUDDHA ................................................................... 142
Buddha ......................................................................... 142
2. SILENCE ..................................................................... 145
Tăcere ........................................................................... 145
3. GROWING WITHIN ................................................... 150
Desăvârşire lăuntrică .................................................... 150
4. SHADOW ................................................................... 156
Umbră ........................................................................... 156
5. SUN ........................................................................... 160
Soare ............................................................................. 160
6. POLLUTION ............................................................... 167
Poluare ......................................................................... 167
7. SENSEXUAL ............................................................... 172
Sensexual ...................................................................... 172
IV. TANKA SEQUENCE ....................................................... 183
IV. Secvență tanka ............................................................. 183
1. LOVE: A TANKA SEQUENCE ...................................... 184
Iubirea: O secvență tanka ............................................. 184
V. TANKA ........................................................................... 191
V. Tanka ............................................................................ 191
1 - 44 ................................................................................. 192
VI. HAIKU AND SENRYU ................................................... 213
VI. Haiku şi senryu ............................................................. 213
1 - 184 ............................................................................... 214
ABOUT THE POET ................................................................. 279
Despre poet .......................................................................... 283











 I. POEMS



                                                             
1.     CLEANSING

I’m no god nor beast
I can’t live alone

can’t sail with the stream
even if foolish

seeking chimeras
imploring in vain

finished relations
link pigs, snakes, monkeys

crowd the pretences
in my head suspend

all formulations
now no more cleansing

spirit viruses
and false oracles


2.     LIVING IS EMPTYING

Living is emptying each day
now frequent forgetting creates
a vacuum in the mind
poetics of decay distresses
my stream of awareness
I try to cross a maze of wires
and fly into soft mottled sky
before the thud one last time












3.     JOURNEYING

Journeying
discover the enemies
within

whispers of stillness
amid breathlessness

thank god
he is present
in the empty spaces

and I can return
from the edge
to wholeness








4.     LONELY JOURNEY

The scars of manipulative system
squib through my shrinking genius
no detergent of luck could clean
whatever the prophecy, lunar or
solar revelations, or games
with destiny Saturn and Uranus
phishing my sensitivity
aspiration and spirit degenerate
love, health, sleep,  and contradictions
too many to  resolve at this juncture
for freedom to think, search, create and live
I keep forgetting stray markers
of happiness in a lonely journey,
ignore jokers celebrating
their betrayals, my vulnerability, now
I take each day as it comes not knowing
what really happens tomorrow




5.     WHO SEES

Who sees
bare in bathroom
mirror

months of smudges
poke inside out

from a corner
leaking rainbow
dash of deception

on epilated chest
fading birthmark







6.     REST

Tired of the past
being my present
I let go of worry:

await in the spirit
to write off the interest
paid on trouble
before it’s due

I’m no Job or Daniel
but I do seek their peace
and rest in sunshine now









7.     LIFE EVADES

How strange we always
seek to stay high above the sky

mountains and rivers
obey rules of gravity
in sync with nature

I’m in awe of mysteries
too complex to understand

now back to Bangalore
again I suffer people
stuck, threatened by movement

and life evades as ever






8.     NO ONE KNOWS

No one knows
when the sun will be clouded
or when it will rain
in Ramdhura
women and weather match

the swagger in party
and the daylong hangover
is no poetry:

I feel the foggy rise
from the hills below
and smile at my granddaughter
saying, “It’s stormy
let’s get in”






9.     POVERTY

Poverty sneaks
through her wet garment
on the terrace

she talks to herself cursing
the day she was born and left
to negotiate truths
of gender, sex and adulthood

in the middle class
one-room apartment
physical rigmarole
buries sick delight
hope of wellness
fast and Sunday mass

her dispirited heart
sinks into dusk
and darkness eats
into her light

10.                   HAZE

Behind the hill the drill goes on
the shooting unmindful of traffic
and children returning from school
for peace beyond quiet Sikkim
the politicians in-fight
with rhetoric of denial for freedom
to Gorkhalis living on the edge
I don’t know how to cheer the mind of time
or walk in the stillness of land
shrouded in haze and struggling sun











11.                   A TRIBUTE

A black ant
pulling  the broken wing
of a butterfly
in the portico
of Bodyguard House
on hill top
the scattered cloud overhead
paying tribute














12.              FRUITY SMELL

A fruit bowl
with an apple and two
overripe bananas
stands on the dining table
for a sick soul
seeking liberation:
none share his hunger
the smell haunts
burial of desire
in bed silence shakes
pill-induced half-sleep
and dreamless wakeup









13.              VASTU  VIHAR - I

Monday worshippers
invoke Shiv on loudspeaker
spoiling rainy day:

drizzles splash against
the window panes I await
the first sentence
to preface my memoir
cooling in the drawer

their musical noise distracts

the long cloudy day
depresses my soul

I lounge around inside
cursing cooped up in here




14.                   PATCH

Morning air
is so dark here
my breathing is choked:

they say my colleagues
from ISM cleared
the existence of
six coking coal chimneys
for a fee
under the table

the aged earth mocks
the concaving patch
of the sky






15.                   FIRE
They know they can’t fight
nor can they play with it
so they switch off
the line and let it spread
swallowing years in streets

blame the sufferers
short-circuit the system
in self-interest

say it contains all
leads gods, humans, elements
annihilating
liberating, recreating
sustaining time, memory, truth

no use awakening
the sleeping mystics
or lamenting the loss of weeds
but seeds if cultivated
can open the Red Sea again

16.                   THE LIE’S SHADED

To hell
the sure way
humility

their nectar
radiates heat
body’s smell

doesn’t go
together
fear and hope

hangs time
about the neck
emptiness

the door’s shut
the sun guards the sky
the lie’s shaded



each morning
no use tempting fate
loose coverings




















17.                   CONFUSED  LIBERATION

Measuring mantra
to the drops falling from the tap
a visitor
to the abode of Khwaja
suffers pushes from the crowd
and remains thirsty:

the khadim promises prayers
Gharib Nawaz feeds the soul
he returns to the sun city
through the highways lost in the dark
thanks God sitting before the image
of Golden Temple
mumbles Baha’i prayers
mahamrityunjay jaap
and Hanuman Chalisa
crowning confused liberation



18.                   VASTU  VIHAR – II

My peers may not know
but the maid knows
the holes in my vests:
I grow older
at a faster pace

it matters little
who owns the tree:
forty years in wood
now good to bottle
if one has taste

how sad it’s only
the saw’s drag I hear
and see dust cloud
in Vastu Vihar
florets simply die





19.                   GROWING NUDE

Growing nude
the plant sways in the field
and matures

in golden silk
drifts like a bee
in quiet rhythm

the sun sings the flight
and stars stand guard
till beauty plays harlot

with half-open heart
abuses night music
provokes hunger

in every street
the lewd shrines
pucker the lips


without payment
strangers come and go
uprooting seeds




















20.                   PEACE  IN  SIN

I thought I’d locate you
in the dark lonely street
but I myself got lost

mind’s mazy prompts
shocked me into nakedness
I never perceived

the misleading sun
the unreal reflections
the dumb show

dazzle my eyes
shades of terror in alleys
smell of treachery

at the crossroads
the selfish gene’s tarots
of my random choices


in dim blue light
smiling breasts invite
autumn breeze

I chuckle to myself
hearing raps of inverse world
and peace in sin
















21.                   NUDE  DELIGHT

The coiled divine
renews eternity
in the body’s cells
fed on sensuous sweetness
and moment’s littleness

for years fleshly reign
seemed spirit’s radiance
in the deep pit
now suddenly sparks the itch
for heaven’s nude delight











22.                   ECHOES  HAUNT

Sleepy roads
with or without light
tear the sky

I watch the murmur
in the misty darkness
Tao of midnight

tranquil emptiness:
breathing deceptive cold
the echoes haunt









23.                   MOTH

I gave you my love
what more do you seek
to enlighten the night
my beloved
let the fire burn
and consume the moth















24.                    ROTTING RIPENESS

Watery spots
cover the mirror
hazy image
he wipes
in the shade
can’t hide
the rotting ripeness
blocked off or picked up by sun
resurrect gloom
buried in the face












25.                   TURNED  OFF

She’s turned off in bed
the breeze soaks in summer
I hate my odour:
they too can’t stand it in crowd
or alone when they pass by

it reveals the absorbed ills
of years I couldn’t stand
in sun or moon and even
monsoon failed to wash
what sticks on vests or drips down










26.                   TIDAL  SWELL

My veins are no ocean
you can’t suck even if
you bury your teeth in my sand
or probe with your tongue
the midnight shadow in bed
now exhausted from your tidal swell














27.                    THE MUD

Bones sown in the earth
spring up from the serpent’s mouth:
urchins foster-father

the mud of the Nile is dried
the womb’s moisture is missing
and dreams sleep in juiceless seeds















28.                   LONELINESS TORMENTS THE SOUL

Sometimes I may seek your eyes to see
hands to touch or legs to move
but how can I borrow your flesh
and be my own love

a  beggar may feel blessed in  your shadow
but it’s insult to suffer
self-pity seeing with other’s eyes
walking with someone else’s legs
and dreaming sexual bliss too

loneliness torments the soul








29.                   A POEM IS PROPHETIC

A poem rests
on brain signals imaged
in words and silence
one decodes with dog sense
smelling twists and turns in rhythm
that turn it prophetic















30.                   NO, I WON’T

Depressed mount of sun
and feeble supporting lines—
will I die unknown
left rotting in the sand
and wind oozing foul smell?

I don’t want the sun
to miss my light and blame
the night for writing
the fate with wintry fingers
licking the legs of scarecrow

they can’t close their eyes
to the images I brew
for burying secrets
against a dusty mirror
against God’s hidden errors




31.                   KARMIC CHAKRA

Post-retirement
awakens inner spirit:
karmic chakra
from sexual loneliness
to insecurities turn

inner fears into
faith cross-legging prayers
climaxing love
visionary hope, wisdom
narrative of helplessness










32.                   WHO  CARES?

It’s too much to pass
time in a military station
no company and
no one to talk to
amid noises in the sky
day in and day out
remind my status:
an outsider in son’s home
drinking beer or wine
for a change when free
he would unburden the load
share retirement plans
forgetting I’ve grown
older each passing year
need care, but who cares?






33.                   SURVIVAL

The trees are taller than my height
the lips osculate in their shade
I enjoy the wind that shakes them

or undresses my sleepless nights
wrapped in shawl without mirrors of stars:
I survive the missing moon’s light














34.                   CHHAT*

They light crackers
from early dawn to welcome
the Chhat sunrise:
half-wet women stand in the pond
to offer arghya to the first rays



*A religious festival characterized by three-day fast to worship the setting sun and the rising sun standing in water.













35.                   GOD TOO DOZES

It was too late
I realized
long after his passing
I still prayed for my father

God didn’t answer

my prayers had become mechanical
like sex
ejaculation without orgasm
and pilled sleep.

The itch prevails.
The tags in the mind
don’t respond:

absent memories
confused faith
forgetting
faster than remembering

in moments of lapse
God too dozes



















36.                   HUNGER

Because I couldn’t enter
her life of lies I failed
my own instinct, now blame
hunger made attractive

within the campus walls
truth remains shadowy
until one climbs into
her skin and gropes the concealed

the body speaks strangely
and slowly for the act
even if it’s not done
through rise, fall and climax

in the twilight glimmer
crevices and corners
when robed in night one senses
light of dawning silence


37.                   THERE’S NO TELLING

There’s no telling what lies ahead but they tell:
        reveal wondrous secrets of my life
        opportunity of a lifetime to trigger a positive time
        a crucial day to realize my lifelong dream
        and  money and happiness I deserve

       later is often too late

hawks circle overhead looking for prey:
       they prophesy with sum attached or interests at stake
       capitalize on greed and dream
       tempt carnal passion with divine desire
       the chakra of allurements, loss and gain

       a prophet tells me my mind devours the future
       I believe the lies it tells me

       the insanely powerful full ‘wolf’ moon of the numerologist
       took over the sky last night
       the ‘stellium’ of planets couldn’t help me unlock my self-direction
       or release of energy, freedom or discovery

       and today, Friday, the thirteenth, the ‘blessed day’ for fortunate few
       as a spirit-medium tells, but nothing happens

I’m yet to know who I am or what I’m destined to be


















38.                   FILTH

There they play games
in the open ground
unmindful of the filth
piled over the years
defying the PM’s plan
to clean India
and remain ruler
for two more terms













39.                    SMALLNESS

I live in a crowd of fakes
smallness rises with age

my mind has ceased to think
new metaphors hardly happen

hunger keeps me awake all night
I mitigate minginess

the inner lives emptied
and filled with fresh stresses

too many fault lines run through
to make sense of the divide

my passion itches and prompts
I nuzzle the virtual too

it’s the same virus aground
the same hackers that hurt


the vigour and rigour of
the new, left, or pushed behind

whatever the remedy
wounds take deaths to heal

















40.                   LUXURY

The framed-in-glass paper goddess
watches me pee in the one-room apartment
Vastu experts blame for bad luck

they defecate or rape hundreds
in the open no god sees and none find fault:
cons love luxury of advice














41.                   ADDICT

Along the wall
crouching in wrinkled shawl
an opium addict
dodges his mother waiting
with dinner in the kitchen

his peddler friend
sets afire a bike parked there
for the money due:
the police refuse action
for want of evidence











42.                   CHANTING WITHIN

Hours of silence
and a lot of walks:
no facile words

no touchiness
no paranoia
no pilgrimage

but chanting within
through the declining day
the inner acoustics

on a hilltop
no cloudy incantation:
gasp for nirvana





43.                  ANGELIC MAGIC

Luck awaits me
if I could buy it from
her miracle stores

she gives me three dates
for her call to reach
the higher cosmic forces

she dreams me stand
in the middle of a
tree-lined park

against saffron  flowers
flashes of light focus
on my serene face

the shower of gold tempts
a being of light descends
I’m offered a new life

divine abundance
defeat of enemies
and stream of love

if I could pay
for her rituals of
angelic magic

















44.                   DUMB DEITIES

The deities are dumb
so they speak
louder and louder

vie with each other
for godhood

descend from mosque-top
to Supreme Court

now await
resurrection









45.                   SNAKY PATH

The path to the mastoid mountain is snaky
the women you meet are not fucking material
you can’t grab the  sun shining in their hair
they’re cool, hell-strong, know well how to take care of their wood

so same some charm within the lust-house of your heart
and enjoy the gathering clouds ready to rain
before you cross the distances

or strip naked in the sticks
or write poems on stretches of free way
or make deal with the devil at every turn

be wary of the emptiness ahead







46.                   DOWN SYNDROME

Memory over-rides time
for metaphors of what never happened
the exclusivity they preach
with new posters dirty the hands
I don’t know how to disable
their Down Syndrome in
populist belly














47.                   VIRTUAL

Time wasted on the internet
watching the unreachable so much
colored sirens now haunt the beaches
in moonlight in the mind impeach
dreams that degenerate age in spring
fall seems the norm in real world















48.                  DYING MODE

What can I do
if a paper or earthen
image sees my sex
or sexact in light or dark—

my senses are my gods
and drive me to my ends

day in and day out prove
how human we are
managing mind, motive
spirit and elements

in limited overs
in a dying mode
                                   




49.                                                            TWILIGHT

Visible
in the dead of night
the sniffing nose
of a white hairy dog
I wake up with a start:

stretch my arm to feel for her
but she isn’t there

perhaps unmindful of me
sleeping in the other room
or thinking I’m talking
in sleep as I often do

straight off I call out again
like the star
that it might cease to shine
unless the sun lends its light

it dissolves in its own shade
I retire in twinkling twilight
50.                   SNAKE IN SEA

Sin-maker or sin-eater
both author the snake in sea

swimming unending love waves
in colors that cloud the eyes:

bodies of desire float up
passion, dream and infinite















51.                   LET IT GO

Silent gaze of  paper deities
from the little temple
in a corner in bedroom
fills me with hope:

anything may happen any time
despite uncertainty
unending jealousy
or tragedy in life

I look for grace within
contemplating the unsaid
in the rhymes of rogues and heroes

I’m not afraid of
the body in crumbled soil
there’s always another chance
to re-form my own present


re-write another half-page
in drunken oblivion
God is going to let it go

























I.                  POEMS  DISCOVERED  FROM  MY  DEOTHANG  DIARY:    NATURE, SEX AND  LONELINESS




















1
Sky frozen
all around life shivers:
autumn gloom


2
The narrow path teems
with creepers both sides waving—
trees grow within trees


3
Smiling women
too conspiring to understand—
alien tongue






4
There is no tree
over the mountain
I rest under the shade
of a wandering cloud


5
Celebrating
in the guttural grave
shadow’s bodiness


6
Meeting at night
she chuckles and looks
a witch


7
Reconcile
inner jerks in the train
homeward


8
Near the railway track
she squats with hands on the knees
and hides her parts
in half-dark the naked truth
transforms nature into nude


9
In the cathedral of night
over-run by sex-bugs
he’s turned a zombie
to write verse with one hand
and rub flesh with the other




10
Tongue of death
in my temple
flagellation of Christ—
nudes couple in the mind
Titan, Renoir, Francesca
Botticelli and all


11
Falling shadows mock
my  impotence, curse me
for standing alone
like a Christ on the pavement
begging for crucifixion







12
Man is an animal
with a peculiar smell
thought Bertolt Brecht

she says she hates the smell

I know man as man
is hardly seen


13
Severed from the tree
he sways like a leaf kicked
by storm in a forest
wanders alone to create
meaningful poetry
parallel to freedom
to end despotism
of the New Right



14
Civilization hasn’t spared the caves
man suffers in the hands of parasites
here too those who work often go without food


15
One upon the other
hollow mounts
crack and shatter
on the aged paths
stray dogs bark
 who cares whether
we breathe fog or air
where we embark
only shades prevail







16
Who’s there that doesn’t drink
the cocktail of sin and repentance

trumpets don’t awake
the blind  saint  and  angel
inveigled into sin

I await my turn
to enter the lake of fire


17
While I sit still
how my shadow moves—
the little flame of candle
tossing against the wind
or wheedling passion nestles
in the grey of mound





18
Stands a lone tree
in the wild wind and rain
hoping miracle


19
Float over the hill
the autumn circles of smoke—
her long hair streaming



20
A lively darkness
of moistened cavern—
her mysterious hole





21
In labour’s colony
she is coupled
whole night and gets

abused and flogged
in the morning
lover turns ruffian

on blue black sheet
stains dry up by
the body’s heat

22
Images cry out
from the broken mirror
sounds invade

in the evening before
the drink is freshened
I turn a bohemian



23
There he sits downcast
unaware  of tomorrow
or where he’ll go

here they carouse and sing
affirming the callous
way of the world



24
Sex-torn women
half-live with murdered desires
weaving dreams of flesh
in Deothang their fingers lean
on looms with newer tales





25
He looks intently and chews
her flesh before she feels
the oily warmth and bursts

her naked anger he fails
to do down in the bamboo rustles

the rock slips and he balls up
his own tangled game



26
The wine of love swells
in my vessel dark shadows
recede human dirt
between sound and silence greets
the joy and bliss of spirit




27
When I see your wet beauty
your body after the bath
when you wring out your saree
you twist my heart
I yen to enfold you back
in my ribs, I envy god




28
Darkness overwhelms
desires don’t let me sleep:
sin of solitude









29
I open the window
of my new house and count
small houses in the valley

mules and horses graze
without a shepherd

the wind howls and the sun is down
the curves all around invisible

in the widening dark twinkles
the top of the house of god










30
Journeying  I have seen the pale shades of life
hollow faces of men, women and children and met
many an oral sympathizer who talk
and praise before me and abuse behind
I’ve seen so much of their epileptic love and known
so much of their  tricks I’m tired of my friends
in this market everyone is cheating and trying to get all giving nothing

here I see the empty barrels scattered
the pox of the land

I see the fools flourishing and the righteous suffering
I see the beasts moving in the lungs of India
stained by the blackness of birth
the noble and the simple uproot

in the dark star of the twilight spirit is poisoned
and despair has led millions to dig the earth

what treasure is hidden in the grave of man

I see many with eyes shut and heads cocked towards the sky   but wonder
what candle of prayer they kindle
what fire they consume by the breath of their nostrils
what image they see    what voice they hear
what dwells in their houses of clay                    

in the bulging belly of the earth I feel
the hidden pain of humanity

marooned in the web of the hypocrites here
the pillars of society suck the blood of man
and the swine makes the land desolate

I know what flame is spread out

man survives on the rubbish of ages
and sheathing leaves cover the graveyard I see
the sepulchral sadness in every home
man has lost his coat

deception shines in every eye and every institution seems a hoax
the dodging crowd on the road and the growling of the traffic upsets
the order    and a wind of distrust blows all around
human relation is reduced to mere fear and passion
and humanity bears the burns of acid

scars crown every head I see
man raping himself

I go by him and he does not see
I shake his hand and he does not feel
I speak and he does not hear
my fellow brother does not feel my existence

my own soul abhors my body
my body doesn’t know my soul
here light is darkness
here life is dried

like the eagle time hastes to the prey
I cry but no one hears




                            




II.               HAIKU  SEQUENCES



















1.
BUDDHA

Hanging
door protector—
Buddha


Buddha’s portrait
inside Bodyguard House
haiku silence


seeks Buddha’s stone bowl
to win the bamboo princess:
she dwells on moon beams


tears invisible
on his water face
Buddha meditates



he meditates
sees vision of Buddha
weeping for us


dark and bright
hue of homey inn—
Buddha’s smile


blinding fog
and cloud of darkness—
Buddha’s light


peace in silence
of the heart and body’s cells:
Buddha’s calm




2.
SILENCE

The blue-white dapples
on the canvas seeing
the eye of silence


sea-side silence
the mind’s inner passage:
self-shadow in moon


I know waves that roar
I live through silence of shore:
the sea grows in me


drifting
in the night’s silence
moon’s shadow



lost in fog
the full moon wanders:
silent sky


her silence
sounds dead in mind-fire:
tongue in ash


her eyes flashing
mist of eternal joy:
quiet after crying


in a glass house
nobody knows anyone—
silent suffering





the night’s silence—
with disturbed sleep
writing haiku


the night rains
pattering on the roof
owlish silence


after the snow
buried in silence
mastoid mountain


birds crouch in nests
along the snow clad path—
wheezing silence





with weight of dews
tendrils of pea plants nutate
breezy silence


inciting
her sexy silence—
cell phone rings


deep into silence
can’t celebrate yoni
again and again


journeying try
to raise my silence
to prayer



3.

GROWING WITHIN

Withdrawn within
sensing infinity:
an island


wingless flight
in retired solitude—
sadhana


retire within
become an island
chasing mirage


a quiet turning in
to partake of her silence:
roaring ocean


foam-maned waves
rise in the mind’s hush:
sinking dome



watching
the darkness between the stars
enlightenment



a waving flame
measures the heaven’s breath
rings of light widen



swaying on one stem
so many lotuses—
beatitude


a vague smile
in moonless cave:
tempting silence


her wrinkled fingers
on the rudraksh rosary—
Buddha Purnima


they come together
as themselves within themselves—
love’s silence


on the river’s bank
his soul is lighted for peace—
lantern in the sky





flowing darkness
consumes the shadow of shadows—
midnight sensation


a graduate girl
chops off her tongue for Kali—
dream fulfillment


from the ruins
rises a mute flame:
heaven’s song



receding crowd
from the street fair—
Jesus in the eyes




too many gods
and so few flowers
whom to  please?


Living again
fountain on hill top—
divine light


in silence
one with the divine will
growing within









4.

SHADOW

Shortening shadow
of the window in my room—
time to wind up work


going alone
an empty shadow
in the mall


steering wheels talk
in the middle of the road
a curved silhouette


they all walk
like shadows in night
for themselves

raising the glass
to invite the lone moon—
silent shadow


between the lips
shadow of her tea:
lingering taste


seeing my shadow
three fish in the pond look
for a safe corner


vanishes faster
than the twinkling of an eye
an eagle’s shadow





shadows waver
in the dewy grass—
butterfly


leaves make face
from the netted window—
shadows in morning


moving shadows
on the door curtain—
sinking sun


stands between
the shadow and the soul
Neruda




5.
SUN

A red globe
rises at dawn:
waving corn


hear in the slow
light-footed arrival of sun
sound of silence


sunlight
behind the temple
cloud’s edge


slowly rising
from the clouds edges
autumn sun



rises drowsily
after a sleepless night
a sick sun


short lives the sun
in the smoggy morning:
birthday visit


safe from sun
under nascent leaf
a gold fish



lonely sunrise—
a butterfly flutters round
a dead marigold




mooching about
a rose petal in the sun—
a butterfly



autumn leaves
mount on each other—
sun’s dullness



before the window
asoka stands erect—
lean sun and shade


a mild sun
blooms to keep alive
the first rose



the morning sun
fondling with tender fingers
the red rose



scorching sun
pink roses turn brown:
early March



patches of shade
under a bare tree
wintry sun



an aged toad
awaiting sunrise—
damp grass


wintry morning sun
lost in a layer of fog
shells of broken eggs


sun from the window
fluorescent light from the wall—
dusky face



looking for a prey
a snake slides through  the fence:
warmth of the sun



stands in sun
to dry her damp drawers
my neighbour




they sculpture psyche
in the city of dumb dreams:
idols sweat in sun


the sun rolls
on the waving Ganges—
whitens love-hope














6.
POLLUTION

Dusts settle
on the rising creepers
flowers grey


air too heavy
with coal dust from chimneys—
the park too chokes


undecided
to walk or not to walk—
evening black with dust


evening walk
stones prick in my shoe—
graveled path



dust and gas
life stuck in one room—
Bangalore


fresh air
more expensive—
fine dust thicken


aggrieved air
allergic patient
room freshener


passing the lake
in blackish reflection
a coal-miner




stench of burning leaves
mounts with smoke in the evening:
asthmatic breathing



morning’s foul smell
the birds too change their tones:
sewage treatment



squatting
in the middle of the field
a woman with child


they squat to ease
along the railway track—
transistors sing



bathing buffalo
in the pond
our milkman


turns black
before merging into sea
the Ganga















7.

SENSEXUAL

Tending the hooks
she blushes to see
the line of jewels


the half moon
on her back reminds of love
before departure


a thin moon
on her neck hides love
in silk gauge


noon sun—
yellow blouse
on her wet back


under white light
dressing off her shoulders
musky scent up


bedside altar
smell of her hair:
dreams light up


her smile
arrival of spring
at the bower


her eyes flash in dark
the eel slides into her cave
I watch the mirror





she hides the mirror
with rose and lipstick
and keeps her fiction


transparent
in her red saree
she tiptoes


awaiting
the taste of her
on my tongue


trying to reach
through the twists and curves
the lips in the crotch




icy bed:
moving the pillow
closer to hers


dim blue light
smiling breasts invite
fiery moon


in naked dress
she plays hide and seek—
sizzling summer


undressing explores
underwear and the erotic:
one more nude selfie





tangle together
flames of a double lamp
on the terrace


lying in her nightie
she wipes the stray rain drops
settled on her cheeks


I see a finger
point to the eye in her breast
mist lingers on lips


vaginal entrance
the scent of her soul
cloistered darkness




her muscles
tighten up and the toes curl:
ecstasy


with fearing finger
touches her to reach the clit
slides…soft…hard…slow…fast



making love
hands clasped and head hung
prayer in bed




after the tumble
buried between the sheets
leftover passion


seeing her naked
fuses logos and eros—
a fresh senryu


she departs
leaving behind her clothes
over  mine


searches her bra
in the pile of night clothes—
sun warming


staring at dried
stains of the last night’s act
drenched in shower


crushed bed sheet
the same as
months ago
on her back
writes with hair a light poem--
weight of love


clings to the body
her wet red saree—
waving wrinkles


the perfume
from her arm pit—
yoga


bedside—
our night clothes
await washing


unforgettable
oneness of our body:
lifetime fire








                             IV.    TANKA  SEQUENCE
















1.

LOVE: A TANKA SEQUENCE

On the roof top
she waits for her man with
 moon cake and lantern:
a flash of silver showers
on the mist-shrouded figure


raising
her hard drink
heavenward:
to my man, lover of
animals, soft in sex






she stoops low
to the bottom shelf
in black jeans
her curves flattering and
red lace groping her hips


a tress of hair
she drops over the mole
on her forehead
thinking it’s ugly and
hides her own gazelle eyes


the beads of sweat
on her breasts do not touch
her years or face
in candle light her shadow
is more restrained than my thought




shaped like a bird
a drop of water lands
on her breast:
my breath jumps to kiss it
before her pelvic flick



it’s not ageing
but eternal delight:
she under me
smooth belly, nude necking
slow stroking parting flesh



I love her undress
the light with eyes that spring
passion with kisses
she leaves her name again
for my breath to pass through



she undresses in
dim light perfumes her body
fills room with herself:
we hit the hay together
drowning in each other



the chilly twilight—
tossing leaves and branches
tell of the wind
before sunrise she and  I
cross-legged, cling to each other


making love
she tastes the salt
upon my shoulder
in the afternoon I pound
like surf into her flesh




the wind lifts
her curved nudity hidden
in the water curtain:
I touch the strings that whisper
love in each falling drop



a happier image
with salubrious top
turns rapturous
as she tamps her love
with watery lipstick


love’s spirit descends
and melds into her body
lending it new life:
I’m amazed how the unknown
becomes one with her beauty










V.  TANKA













1
After a long walk
he takes a peeled, sliced apple
with whiskey watching
muddy debates on TV
anchors vulgarize

2
He doesn’t drink water
for the disgusting things
fish do in it
but enjoys fishing and frying
the catch at riverside

3
Growing sugarcane
naked eucalyptus guard
view from running train
in Western U.P. closed mills
await men from rum factory


4
A group of drivers
pee in the car parking space
stinking secrets
in bits and pieces relive
their  masters’ profanity


5
The snail of traffic
near red light bikes zig-zag
on broken footpaths
at Bannerghatta Road
pedestrians seek safe refuge


6
I hate fakery
and phony academics
out to win spurs through
lies and lowness at the helm
bully and yet complain


7
Their minds
hallowed in borrowed sun
joyous in hate
celebrate emptiness
of the pimp’s asshole

8
Searching mosquitoes
that hide with my blood in their
swollen bellies and
make sleep desert my eyes
ever in need of peace


9
The lane to temple
through foul drain, dust and mud:
black  back of Saturn
in a locked enclosure
a harassed devotee


10
Choking air
in a walled colony:
two tired pigeons
perch on overhead tank
whisper pity on us


11
Yellow peepal
stands between me and
rising sun:
Saturn too not pleased
with unwatered spring


12
Stars on the earth
these glow-worms I want to clasp
into hands and
offer to God as flowers
of my first obeisance

13
To avoid nagging
he gulps down pegs and pretends
everything’s normal:
keeping the mouth shut, hiding
whiskeyed breath, and meditating

14
Still drowsy
after a tea
sleepy sun
in the courtyard
smell of night queen

15
The mind creates
withdrawn to its own pleasures
a green thought
behind the banyan tree
behind the flickering lust


16
Her one night stand
my first and last
still tastes in my mouth:
the night melted into us
the dawn shyly said goodbye


17
Weaving no web
a dark fishing spider
mates in the creek
and curls up hanging from the twat
in one-shot deal

18
On the wall
the window grill’s shadow:
midnight pain
overwhelming touches
indifferent after-taste


19
Age seems to stop
for a while in sex act
a running horse
erect and heavenly
white as a lightning

20
Seeking shelter
under the golden wings
of angel Michael
a prayer away now
whispers the moon in cloud


21
Little candles fail
to illumine the deity
or golden dome
in the valley darkness reigns
and god too awaits light


22
Striving hard to feel
the image of spring again
the whole body blooms
love gently and silently
revives the final flame

23
The mirror swallowed
my footprints on the shore
I couldn’t blame the waves
the geese kept flying over the head
the shadows kept moving afar


24
Each night
peace is taken away
by my father’s shrieks
and our useless effort
to calm down frayed worries



25
Browsing old haiku
in the shade of a tree
he munches the moon
through a pouch of cashew
beery songs and half-clad girls

26
The god fire
in the soul forces back
my secret fall
I feel the retarding weight
in the fate’s deadly turn


27
Helpless like a child
I cry but there’s no mother—
my pain turns monstrous
on a hilly bed I lie
aged burden but who cares


28
I thought I would make
tea for her but she was sleeping
I didn’t wake up
our back faced each other
once again cold birthday

29
She knows well
Vastu Vihar is too small
but not bad for two:
we can never be at home
in the house of our son

30
My thinning hairs
wave in the bath tub
clog the drain
with soap bubbles deride
my baldness


31
Unmindful of her
body’s joy the ascetic
absorbed in vision
or communion with muse
I feel ripples of fire

32
Visits unannounced
the bodiless god of love—
sweeping the earth and
decking the street with kolam
one more bride, one more wedding


33
Under the marble
none see the skeleton
ants squeeze in dark:
they die unmourned
no ritual, no prayer


34
Watching with tea
a row of ants coming
to taste the drop
on the marble floor
mopped a minute ago

35
Lands a brown leaf
between the banana and
mouth of stone monkey
seated at the swimming pool
children wait to jump into


36
Stunt on the bike
against high speed traffic:
two young lovers
unmindful of parents
cursing craze for selfie


37
In the mirror
am I I, or different
pieces of puzzle
come together with God
in me becoming truth?


38
Depressed mount of sun
and feeble supporting lines—
will I die unknown
left rotting in the sand
and the wind oozing foul smell?

39
Island of rubbish
home to cows, mosquitoes
and homeless mothers
speak wordlessly   passersby
unzip to ease and move



40
Nothing new
in tomorrow’s sun:
year’s last day
too passes off like each day
nothing is amazing


41
Not much fun
cold night, asthmatic cough
and lonely Christmas:
no quiet place within
no fresh start for the New Year


42
The vacation ends
with a tiring sleepless night—
summer solstice
no use telling myself again
things would change this time next year


43
Dreams puzzling
smallness of waking
I can’t live
the child’s circumcision
promise of happiness

44
The tenuity
of her story like hearing
my own confession
without the priest I wonder
if I know my true voice











               
        
           VI.   HAIKU  AND  SENRYU  


















1
Morning glory
fading in a few hours—
splendors of day-star



2
a dew drop
on the edge of the leaf—
the wind shakes



3
midnight downpour
now only a whisper
and toss of trees





4
turn into river
non-existing roads:
hudhud waves



5
a lone sparrow
atop the naked branch
viewing sunset
                               


6
a fish tail
dried up in river mud:
burning smell




7
mangoes shrink
on the tree—
heat wave



8
branches swing
the pre-monsoon rain:
ripe mangoes




9
a scarecrow
abandoned in the field
fractured head





10
drops await
a draught of wind
on the railing



11
ready to burst
over the cracked window panes
darkening clouds




12
removing
faded flowers from deities:
new morning



13
cyclonic rain
mating with the rising waves—
deserted beach



14
the peepal in pot
worshipped each Saturday:
phailin in backyard




15
from the peepal
swirling raindrops—
palms open





16
fresh flowers
before paper deities:
Navratri



17
incense stick smoke
before the paper goddess:
Durga puja




18
trespassing to pluck
the only hibiscus—
a morning walker




19
icy fish
laced with blood
spices smell



20
warming together
on a ceiling fan’s arm
two pigeons




21
sitting quietly
on a packet of sweets
a cockroach in the fridge



22
tastes a rose
a blue butterfly—
nimble  feet



23
fingers feel
decaying fireflies
in night lights




24
houses hidden
among the tall pine trees—
narrow valley





25
the window opens
to the Kanchanjungha peak—
snow lines sparkle




26
hidden behind clouds
the peak of Kanchanjungha—
relax at Munsong




27
await wind to move
clouds densing over the hill—
bottoms up



28
lonely hill top
looking for levity—
full moon



29
westerly wind
strikes the window pane with rain—
flood in bedroom




30
stars twinkling
the beetle’s path
from manure




31
hiding the moon
a hedgehog in backyard—
winter night



32
a frog
bullied into the hedge:
snake’s breakfast




33
awaiting their turn
at the muddy pool
piglets with mother




34
restless birds
chirping on neem tree
midnight chill



35
super moon:
the western horizon
still crimson




36
welcoming spring
blue bells in Burrows Lea
spirit heals



37
drinking sea
sand on the shore:
moon waves



38
the woodpecker
still looking for the neem tree:
Type VI/4




39
on the road
an injured toad—
onlookers





40
watching dogs
frolicking in the park—
jaded couples



41
crowded streets
moving among the years
wretched faces




42
from behind the grill               
bows to the setting sun
a man in wheel chair




43
making water
he turns his face to me—
ISM



44
wheezing his way
to Shiva’s hilly abode
a young miner




45
knee-deep in the pond
awaits fresh catch to buy milk
for the new-born



46
the cracked floor tiles
new for an ageing church:
son of man still dwells



47
hypnotized
into deep sleep—
nothingness




48
sudden downpour
noisy trucks at midnight
crowded footbridge





49
rushing back home
with half-bloomed hibiscus:
morning rain




50
watching the moon
rise from the old balcony—
Guru Purnima



51
evening sky:
a pale moon behind
listless trees




52
potholes :
spots of sunshine
wobble



53
seeking refuge
on the wings of wind
scattered petals




54
a sleeping snake
curled between the eggs—
layers of leaves




55
lying listless
on withered creeper
a golden bird




56
chasing each other
in the by-lane
two birds



57
a drop embedded
in the half-opened bud—
winter morning




58
full moon eclipse—
every thing dark, unknown
yet filled with light



59
dusky backyard
crowded parrots’ shrieks
autumn onset



60
dragon cloud
burst into cool rain:
afternoon





61
a short drizzle
stony scent of petrichor—
vastu vihar



62
sudden downpour
seek shelter on the roadside
hapless pedestrians




63
morning view:
the zigzag on my palms
muddy pathway




64
watery sky:
I fear growing roots
in foreign land



65
with fear of puke
driving through snaky road—
viva voce




66
two cranes stand
in the mid of the paddy field—
laughing scarecrow




67
looking for fish
a Siberian crane
in a lotus pond



68
the sky
without a shadow
on the earth




69
locked in a cave
the goddess
in dim light




70
moonlight
wrapped in cloudy sheet—
nudity



71
aged redwood
watching rise of venus—
itch for sex




72
no liberation
unless born as a male:
her earthy smell




73
solitude:
elopes to tie the knot
super moon



74
two bodies
sweating together—
sultry bed




75
mosquito bite
in the middle of sex act
breaking climax




76
tattoos crack
the epilated chest—
mole on the back



77
who sees
bare in bathroom
mirror




78
touching her tattoo
in the darkness of mirror
moon from the window




79
yielding
just to please
a quickie



80
from the wall
watching stressed sex
paper Shiva




81
one more plateau
to negotiate lapses:
her cold lashes




82
in the bath
bare soul together—
afterglow




83
she smiles 
sex in the eyes:
Eve Enseler




84
flames rise
their colored faces—
full moon



85
a poem
in your beauty
light of love




86
caress and kisses
relishing the aftertaste—
post lunch quickie



87
the morning dews
touch the hem of her skirt:
flight of first love



88
her veil
hides the face
love too




89
her name
written on the sand:
a wave breaks




90
hidden
behind the pillar
her half face




91
her face
beautiful like sin—
shyness




92
her feet
after the water yoga
drying in sand




93
wet in sweat
from her underarms
perfume



94
reading tweets
mixed with porn teens:
yoga pants



95
unable to map
on the face where her pain ends
and mine begins




96
unresolved
hurts of years--
longer nights



97
maturing like wine
her feminine figure jumps
my ageing fullness



98
spread on the  white sheet
fragments of my sin deride
tainted threshold



99
my white moustache
irks her each day—
turned off in  bed






100
in the backyard
wife collects unripe mangoes
husband flying papers



101
without hum
a mosquito lands
on my back




102
two of us
flying between the clouds—
dragons await




103
softness of wind
magic in her nearness
sleight of hand



104
end of festival:
I stop by her haiku
on twitter.com



105
erotica and
some wish list under the bed—
spring cleaning





106
brightness of the moon
the same as when tied the knot—
61st new year



107
excuses
the slow offence—
her first date



108
cloning miracles
with the night’s discharge
in condoms




109
etched on her skin
a ghost rises from the flames:
fighting one more day



110
shade of her lips
between the cup and saucer—
lingering taste




111
feeling one with
water in cupped hands:
Diogenes





112
not alone
in midnight misery:
Easter season




113
awake whole night
no angel cares to watch—
frosty morning




114
a fading rose
lies with weeds between stones—
valentine day



115
a girl
between the railway tracks
swings her pony tail




116
a toddler
trying to stand up by the pram—
young mother watches




117
a teenager
glides past me on roller blades
her long hair flows



118
sudden downpour—
waiting in sun for son
with umbrella



119
my umbrella
seen many rains
now sagging




120
travels in lift
from second floor to ground
a butterfly




121
crowded waiting hall
fleshly warmth with smelly clothes:
midnight train still late



122
in  disguise
more confident and sexy--
a bully




123
non-stop train
confining me to Facebook—
depression




124
virtual flirting
untamed straggly bushes—
dystopia




125
the sunrise
knocks with song of praise:
hold my tongue




126
on the lamp post
two pigeons talk about
loneliness in my son’s house



127
sweltering heat
frequent power failure:
neighbours shout



128
between the lantern
and the smart phone
a pizza-eating girl




129
maid’s arrival
morning irritation
noisy utensils



130
the maid
leaves behind a smell:
sneezing



131
fruity smell
from the bowl on the table:
late sunrise




132
fully filled
the trashcan in kitchen:
stuck in lack





133
smell of fish
in his apple juice bottle—
costermonger



134
Holi songs
unwilling listeners
in the park




135
piddling on the wall
he makes a map and laughs in
the policeman’s face




136
head lifted up
the wayside brook—
traveler




137
touching my head
a curved arm of the tree—
over-ripe mango



138
in the study
the scent of mangoes riping—
children yet to come



139
unashamed my son
sits tight over his trousers—
smiling mother



140
November—
moths rising from nowhere:
Diwali lights




141
carrying  the tomb
of unburied days:
new year





142
Arab spring—
tending death and roses
a short bloom



143
lost in slogans
sounds of life and smell
devils workshop




144
a soldier
fighting the war
night inside




145
counting
the day’s passage
sleeping pill



146
bamboo grove—
hearing whispers of
liquid dream




147
start of the morning
painless anal bleeding
empty prayers




148
dead roots:
how swiftly the tooth falls
making me older



149
dust-covered deities
in my aged father’s room:
nebulization




150
icy coldness
knives my being in bed—
scorpions




151
reading future
in the urinal bowl—
forked urine



152
clouded super moon
and unseen shooting stars—
how to make a wish




153
their racist talk
at the dining table—
stale beer




154
nowhere to go
each night at PC
wrinkled map



155
with failed words
seek immortality
write haiku




156
late night sleep
no lotus in the dream—
Chinese garden




157
tea festival—
revival of wishes
made months ago



158
empty hangers
clatter in the wardrobe:
old bridal dress



159
drying on clothesline
teacher’s bras and panties:
classroom windows





160
smelly sweat
in the new exam hall
two girls talk



161
on the wall
unmoving fan in the class
sweating talk




162
in the shade
talking haiku
to a schmo




163
with her back to us
she teaches us ‘in front of’—
her snaky hair moves




164
squeezing water
out of a rock—
R.K. Singh




165
drifting between
my eyes and the moon
floaters


166
 crowded sea-side
searching space to stand
my daughter and I



167
3-year old
asking name of changing shapes
in the sky




168
killing flies
with empty envelope—
muddy drain





169
evening walk
near the woodland path:
spiny friend



 170
living life’s routine
cycled in infinite loop
feel so  limited




171
searching mother
in the thickening dark:
a  tree stands




172
fractured glass
fixed on the window:
blurred vision



173
pulsing
but still missing
his left leg




174
flooded river
half-drowned in a boat
going to work




175
sips alone
in the portico
honey tea



176
birthday party
in chilly December—
sore throat



177
more refreshing
the day’s haiku with tea—
The Mainichi




178
climbing stairs
the books unread for years
lumbar pain again




179
nagging lumbar pain—
who cares less monsoon in June
six months more to work




180
shifting years’ load
away to the new building—
choking scholarship




181
under the bed
spiders’ network—
sabbatical



182
waking up
to the barking of
street dogs




183
dead skin
sits on my face
ashy look




184
a stray cock guards
the house in my absence:
neighbor’s free grub



185
mosque’s dome
lower than mobile towers:
weaker God’s signal




186
in the wee hours
a short brush with death—
now resurrection



187
my inner powers
she seeks money to liberate:
full moon



188
post-dinner walk
bare foot on the grass
dew drops in moon




189
apparitions
of lonely summer night—
crooning in street





190
sipping coffee
at a wayside stall
cockroaches too




191
prayer book
covering the glass—
his last drink




192
hunger haunts
a pavement dweller—
Christmas again




193
mist in the eyes
her back on the chair—
a wry smile


194
her cooking skill
lingering taste of biryani—
my birthday lunch


195
crack in the mine:
a traceless tipper driver
wailing father






196
they cover the face
and hide in a corner:
picnic in the park



197
the black idol waits
for worshippers to visit:
unbloomed  hibiscus


198
filthy rags
leaves fade in the backyard—
the clay’s drying up






199
resting in
the cleft of the rock
honey bees


200
bloom together
two yellow roses—
spring in the lane













ABOUT THE POET

Ram Krishna Singh, born, brought up and educated in Varanasi, is a retired university professor whose main fields of interest consist of Indian English writing, especially poetry, and English for Specific Purposes, especially for science and technology. He has taught  English language skills to UG and PG students of earth and mineral sciences and engineering for about four decades.
He has authored more than 160 research articles, 170 book reviews and 42 books, including Savitri: A Spiritual Epic (1984), Indian English Writing: 1981-1985: Experiments with Expression (1987, rept 1991), Using English in Science and Technology (1988, rept 2000, 2010), Recent Indian English Poets: Expressions and Beliefs (1992), Psychic Knot: Search for Tolerance in Indian English Fiction (1998), New Zealand Literature: Some Recent Trends (1998), Multiple Choice General English for UPSC Competition (2001),  Communication in English: Grammar and Composition (2003),  Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri: Essays on Love, Life and Death (2005),  Teaching English for Specific Purposes: An Evolving Experience (2005), Voices of the Present: Critical  Essays on Some Indian English Poets (2006), English as a Second Language: Experience into Essays (2007),  English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected (2008),  Mechanics of Research Writing (2010),  and Writing Editing and Publishing: A Memoir (2016).

His published poetry collections include  My Silence (1985), Above the Earth’s Green (1997), My Silence and Other Selected Poems (1996),  The River Returns (2006), Sexless Solitude and Other Poems (2009), Sense and Silence: Collected Poems (2010), New and Selected Poems Tanka and Haiku (2012),  I Am No Jesus and Other Selected Poems, Tanka and Haiku (2014),  You Can’t Scent Me and Other Selected Poems (2016), and God Too Awaits Light (2017).
Some of his poems have been translated into French, Spanish, Romanian, Albanian, Crimean Tatar, Arabic, Farsi, Russian,  Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Italian, German, Portuguese, Greek, Esperanto, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Tamil, and Bangla.

 His poetry has been explored for doctoral and postgraduate studies, over 80 research articles, and four full length books, namely  New Indian English Poetry: An Alternative Voice (ed. I.K. Sharma, 2004), R.K. Singh’s Mind and Art: A Symphony of Expressions (ed. Rajni Singh, 2011), Critical Perspectives on the Poetry of R.K.Singh, D.C.Chambial and I.K.Sharma (ed. K.V. Dominic, 2011)  and Anger in Contemporary Indian English Poetry (Vijay Vishal, 2014) which   present a comprehensive picture of his creativity since the 1970s. Professor Singh’s biobibliography appears in some 35 publications in the UK, USA, India and elsewhere.


A member of several organizations and editorial boards, Professor Singh is a recipient of many awards and honours, including an Honorary LittD from the World Academy of Arts & Culture, Taiwan, 1984, Fellowship of the International  Writers and Artists Association, USA, 1988, Michael Madhusudan Award, Kolkata, 1994, Ritsumeikan University Peace Museum Award, Kyoto, 1999, Certificate of Honour and Nyusen Prize, Kumamoto, 2000, 2008, Universal Peace Ambassador, 2006, Lifetime Achievement Award, Chennai, 2009,  distinguished membership of the IAPWA, Albania, 2012,  Prize of Corea Literature, Korea, 2013,  Special Award Diogen, 2013, Nazar Look Prize for Poetry, Romania, 2013, Nomination for Pushcart Prize, 2013, 2014, Naji Naaman’s Literary Prize, 2015, Aichi Prefecture Board of Education Award, Japan, 2015 , and  Ambassador of Naaman pour la Culture, Lebanon, 2016.

Professor Singh can be reached by email at profrksingh@gmail.com