THE RIVER RETURNS: A Review by Narayanan

http://www.wonderhaikuworlds.com/posts/view/4986 The River Returns ~ R#4 Posted by Narayanan Raghunathan Wed, Apr 30th 2008, 15:17 :: English The River Returns Professor R.K Singh is truly a multifaceted personality. First he is a professor and head of the Department of English and Social Sciences at the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. His main fields of interest consist of Indian English Writing, especially poetry and English for specific purposes especially for Science and Technology. He has authored over 150 academic articles 160 book reviews and 30 books including ten collections of poems !! Very versatile and prolific indeed! His poems have been anthologized in over 140 publications and translated into many languages The first thing that I noticed about the book “The River Returns” was its elegant cover design. It uses very simple but perfect lines to outline a female nude. I instantly felt familiar and soon recognized it as Matisse’s famous drawing. I checked inside and read, ‘cover design recreated from “Nude” by Henri Matisse’. I was very fond of Matisse and this became an ambient personal introduction to the book. [ I felt that the Matisse lines have been thickened in the design which was not necessary in my opinion. (or am I imagining !) ] This book has two sections Part 1] consisting of 140 Tanka Part 2] consisting of 365 Haiku . It must be one of the first book(s) ever published on Tanka and Haiku in English in India and the very prolific abundance is admirable. We will deal with the Tanka section first and wade through a few Tanka Tanka was originally love poetry and continues to be so intrinsically : here in these Tanka by R.K Singh, love manifesting, hope of love deeply enhanced by nature’s myriad wonders of perception, etc. are major themes that finds varied structural and aesthetic elucidations ~~ “Unrealized bliss” “rains love and delight” in the following lyrical Tanka ~~ She hears the voice of unrealized bliss in the coos of koel at the window sill this evening rains love and delight The passion of waiting for the tryst “at moonrise among flowers” “sparkles a secret on her smiling face” here ~~ His message to meet at moonrise among the flowers sparkles a secret on her smiling face passion glows with charming fervour Waxing and waning like the moon in ancient cosmic Rtam ~~ She is no moon yet she drifts like the moon, takes care of him from the sky- meets him for a short, waxing leaves him for a long, waning The geometric formation of a woman in river waters inspires the following special tanka: It is more neutral [ not personal ] observation though sensuous in its subtler enhancements. ~~ At the river she folds her arms and legs resting her head upon the knees and sits as an island The Cosmic Rtam is referred again and the poet sees the Cosmic Mother Aditi in his beloved’s eyes ~~ Life limits between whence the sun rise and where it goes to relax: joys of a fleeting moment I see Aditi in your eyes A little drink, anarchy and epicurean refinements too discover a Dionysian fulfillment in some Tanka like this one ~~ Drinking evening star blue green patterns before eyes no meditation no god visits to forgive the sinning soul in solitude Of course the physical ailments of the body also surface for tentative attention in a gently mocking tragic irony as the poet “looking for the inhaler” breathing pipe choked with coloured dust ~~ Breathing pipe choked with coloured dust celebrate spring in coalfield: the moon mocks my nightly plight I look for the inhaler Very deeply angst ridden one that finds a way out of the entrapment in the sun’s antidote ~~ I lost my sleep over a thought I could not make my own: the sun’s antidote changed the voice of the wind There are ‘shasei’ sentient ‘aware’ invoking Tanka enhanced by ‘wabi/sabi’ like this imagist one immersed in Zen. A cloud-eagle curves to the haze in the west skimming the sail on soundless sea Here is a strange and beautiful one with a hidden lyrical narrative and metaphysical resonance as the toddler / in thin sun awaits / her mom from the sea” ~~ Digging sand with her little toes the toddler in thin sun awaits her mom from the sea But anxieties have no escape and insomnia is a perpetual agony for the poet. Unlike many others here the poet talks about his personal pains which seem to be a part of the Cosmic Dukkha ~ I thought I’d exchange my anxieties for a bit of peace but thinking was easier than happening: I couldn’t even sleep Fearsome nightmares and sleepless deeper darkness envelop the night(s)! I fear the demons rising from my body at midnight crowding the mind and leading the soul to deeper darkness The insomniac poet is in agony ruthless seeing with no self aggrandizement: survives one more nightmare: it looks fearsome if one tries to imagine what he says! An insomniac weak with desires and prayers hears the heartbeats rising fast with dark hours survives one more nightmare But surely there are gentler moments when “seven times he moves round the vermillion god under the peepal sprinkling water ~~~~ ? Seven times he moves round the vermillion god under the peepal sprinkling water to escape the malefic Saturn Of course the poet can’t escape nor deny poetic lyric so here is one of RK’s beautiful and highly evocative Tanka with a cosmic perception ~~ Gentle like a dove love was graceful a night away on the white wave it’s a sea searching ways leaps to eternity tonight But meticulously he affirms almost immediately ~~ I’m no romantic turning sufferings to bliss and delude in heavenly meeting with god or life’s grandeur and greatness Again insists with a vehemence and even hidden pain about his unavoidable human predicament ~~ I’m human and feel their meanness every moment get angry and lose my sleep as the earth writhes in the pain butcher’s knives inflict But there is the hope in poetry and prayer despite God’s nonchalant silence ~~ There’s little save poetry and prayer to put up with rising darkness in and out and god too is silent There is a sad tragic reminiscence like this one: The poet also creates Tanka out of his unhappiness ~~ Couldn’t be happy with my present nor could realize any dreams all these years- there’s nothing to look back to say I lived my life well A strange esoteric mystery pervades the spirit of this brilliant Tanka Inside me the whispers of the forest will be quiet: no tree will know what the weather was like But surely there is “divinity unrealized in soul” is expressed eloquently as below in some Haiku. The sun on a mountain grave illumines the path to divinity unrealized in soul Also just brilliant imagist Tanka very self-satisfactory without critical comments With steel flow the rolling water pierces the rocks shapes them into stars turned into river’s song There are humorous one filled with sad wabi-sabi ~~ She visits a beauty parlour to erase wrinkles and returns with the same wintry darkness Deeply meditative Buddha’s image in Padmaasana too finds way into one of the Tanka ~~ At the river-front in-drawn with Buddha’s image in padmasana eyes half-closed, meditating his eyes not yet opened A somewhat disturbing sentient experience inspires the following Tanka Stray fungi grow on the broken window frames beside my bed watery smell swells as if a corpse in the river The Great Kumbh Mela finds a subdued expression Feeling the difference between a tin house and a weather proof tent: on the Yamuna’s bank Kumbh deluge to wash sins Very expressionistic and philosophically inspired Tanka also have their special place With black and white marks and nest of ants on its skin the tree grows taller shining through the geometry of sun, moon and halogen About layers of “dust thickening on the mirror”, “the stains” that “stay like sin” despite perpetual wiping ~~ Layers of dust thicken on the mirror water makes the smut prominent: I wipe and wipe and yet the stains stay like sin A very deeply symbolic one about life and river and finding way in life ~~ I’m no river flowing towards the sea: I must find my way asking strangers in strange places sensing soul, using insight Remarkably gentle Zen inspired imagist Tanka like a divine dream The otter watches a duck walking on the frozen river icicles drop bit by bit from a lone tree Perfect human observations find their hidden poetry in some like this ~~ Peeling the orange with manicured fingers: she slits the rind from top to bottom, separates each section with artistry The eternal journey and eternal duel and the resolutions surely are part of the Tanka experience ~~ One thousand miles traveling together in tense silence he and she contemplate the next round of duel There are also difficult to decipher ones rooted in aware ( eternal transience ) ~~ Time is running out cracks in walls develop fast but I stay static shrouded in cobweb, brooding as if in dusk, denying death The physical pains and the occasional union in sleep of the insomniac with God is referred below ~~ Each night speaks to me in flatulence, wheezing and pain in the legs: god intervenes at times in momentary union But with “years of rubbish he reeks of aborted dreams as he rots in the marsh like a frog cut off from the running source” With years of rubbish he reeks of aborted dreams lives a stagnant pool cut off from the running source rots in the marsh like a frog The insomnia seems to be a perpetual unwanted companion and theme for Tanka inevitably again and again ! Lying all day with pain in the heels and sinking heart I read tanka and wait for miracle to sleep Now there are of course Tanka that express social concern and personal political indignation With moral twists name of god or religion they fly planes to bomb sheep of his pasture and expect grace for humankind Where they preach peace with politics of terror Preaching peace explode ‘plane bomb, car bomb human bomb and bluff the living corpses with politics of terror and the poet wonders how god condones the vague prophets and their cults They claim to kill satan mass murder innocents and blow themselves up: I wonder how god condones vague prophets and their cult Here is a deeply personal one about the poet’s son working in the Armed Forces near the border where war may break out any moment where he must kill and live to kill ~~ From the border rings he’s stationed dangerously: any moment war may break out for their follies he must kill and live …. to kill A very strange memory of walking through a slum when “dogs bark to alert the dwellers to the presence of a stranger” finds a perfect expression in this Tanka. Naked children crowd as I pass through the alleys between smelly slums: dogs bark to alert them to the presence of a stranger But sensual ambience reigns in many of Prof. Singh’s Tanka like this gentle lotus fragranced one ~~ Her letter smells the lotus she wore each time meeting in the dark: I touch her fingers again with all the hopes and passions Hilarious and romantic moods merge in this Tanka invoking the monsoon Waving arms of trees conspire with overcast day to drench again the two of us look for shade under leaking umbrella The Tanka section closes with the dead silence at sea when the poet surreally pulls down chunks of sky Awaiting the wave that’ll wash away empty hours and endless longing in this dead silence at sea I pull down chunks of sky The Haiku section begins gently with a few mutually related(linked) Haiku on hibiscus and there are spiders and webs The special meta-animism is self-evident in the following Haiku Oleander and hibiscus blaze with passion making love in sun Hibiscus seems to enthrall him and he finds it anew Suspended on the spider’s web a hibiscus and escapes the snares of a spider web here Narrowly escape the midair web of spider perched on hibiscus But hibiscus is sacred when used for worship, so wash your hands before you touch them as the following haiku reveals Without washing hands he touches hibiscus for worship: her frowning glance “Chrysanthemum” flowers in divine abandon and is even growing in odd places like a “mossy roof “ Chrysanthemum on the mossy roof deeply rooted He surely captures a huge spider between two roses Too big for its web between two roses- a yellow spider A lone pomegranate manifests from dense fog here Shrouded in fog the lone pomegranate in the courtyard. An ordinary observation gets elevated to a haiku here Lying in the dust a guava bitten off by the parrots Leaves of trees become meta-beings wanting to fly in this Haiku Leaves sway to fly like birds free in sky The hill is veiling her breasts and blushing like a maiden in this poetic Haiku Veiling her breasts with the season’s first snows the hill blushes Transparent, explicitly shasei but still subtle Haiku too find a voice here. On a lean branch of neem swinging a bulbul A clean haiku painting is coaxed in a few syllables like this Painting spring with willow as brush His wife appears in some Haiku in domestic freedom unaware of her physical appearance ~ With her saree hitched up between the legs my wife in bed The newly wed wife rises early to please and make all happy. Rising early to make tea for everyone the newly wed wife Pain of separation from beloved children finds its expression on the Diwali day. No joy in lighting the candles this Diwali both the children away The son working in the army on the dangerous border invokes this eerie death inspired haiku ~ Awaits his son’s phone call from the border dogs and cats wail The moon is a favourite topic and kigo for the Haijin. The following haiku closes admirably with a hineri [twist]. A star shines bright beside the crescent moon she fakes a smile Deep wabi-sabi is invoked in some, the ancient strange eternally solitary man reinstated in his unique cosmos. After the party empty chairs in the lawn – new moon and I The Haijin’s incurable insomnia appears too: yet there is a moon ! Noisy birds don’t let me sleep: midnight moon There are some sensuous haiku with direct reference to the female anatomy Wet bodies of bathing women: full moon night Very strange and impossible metaphors too appear sometimes Squeaking under the blue moon- the dry sky Religious and ritualistic elements find a new expression in some Haiku. Vultures waiting for the leftovers of the sacrifice Also, Mosquitoes, solitude and waiting Waiting for the train alone on the platform swatting mosquitoes Sleepless nights again and again repeating The long night passes sleeplessly I deep-breathe – mosquitoes in bed The terrible after effects of an earthquake is captured eloquently in the following Days after the quake staring at the rubble – a homeless widow The well acts as a mirror for the village woman coming to draw waters In the well studying her image a woman Very pathetic scene of poverty as seen in some places in India also becomes a theme Searching food in the street garbage a dog and a girl The poet can also be rebellious and ironic smoking cannabis on Gandhi Jayanthi day at Sabarmathi itself Smoking cannabis at the Sabarmathi – 2nd October The whole vast ancient Indian idea of transmigration from life to life for ever is invoked in silent grandeur ~ Facing the sun the lone flower dying to bloom Explicitly humorous Haiku too find a place in the Haijin’s repertoire ~ Alone on the National Highway Hanuman A very simple curious observation becomes a beautiful haiku here with vast worlds unfolding in its hidden recesses ~ A bubble flying from over the shaving brush bursts on the mirror There are common experiences that turn into “aware” invoking haiku like this ~ Disposable blades one over the other – dusty switch board Also, strange, experimental but animistically suggestive ones too appear occassionally ~~ A star in making – but an island appears the palm amuses The Haijin despite much sexual activity recognizes that The bed room altar no substitute for temple sacrifice of sex But He clearly recognizes that these passions are all fleeting and unruffled by it all the Buddha’s calm still is a possibility. Unruffled by passions and clamours - Buddha’s calm There are animal related ones like this neat shasei experience A crow pecking at the ripe papaya and another waiting This beautiful senryu is something many people would have seen many times! In the morning train sleeping on his feet the newspaperman The Endless Ganges is his perpetual theme Awaits the sunrise in the chilly Ganges a nude worshipper He also encounters visions eating the food of gods Sees visions eating food of gods - mushroom Religious symbols too appear in some of the Haiku On Christmas eve santa claus takes leave- mist on chairs in pairs The contrast of flowers and the cross is beautifully indicated in this haiku Standing between flowers Jesus on the cross Krishna too appears in this mythogrammatical-haiku Krishna offering parijata to Radha: Narada looks on But still the pains of this earth cannot be overlooked All night rain the gaping roof her shelter That does not forbid the beautiful vision of a rainy day Sudden rain on the way home - a peacock Then we come to the Haiku with the title of the book which is symbolic of human existence in a deep way Dancing a few muddled crocs : the river returns The book closes with a rainbow kigo Haiku and a new hope In the changing hues of rainbow in the east sun and lightning eternally bridging the many worlds Reflects the rainbow in the mirror of water - Yamuna bridge There are certain things we may specially observe in Prof. R.K Singh’s Haiku & Tanka poetry. They are not bound by hard and fast rules. Firstly, the syllable count rule is not adhered to. Haiku and senryu are not classified. The haiku themselves are of various types we may say, extending Susumu Takiguchi’s tentative classification: Neo-classical [ with a kigo and kireji ] ,Shintai[ New style ], Gendai [ poetic, ornamented ] and even experimental ~ The haijin has not artificially kigo-ized nor kireji-zed his Haiku thus avoiding the temptation to tentori-fication. My only negative observation is that some of the explicitly erotic Haiku weaken the texture of the book and create a little distracting feeling I also notice that one Haiku has appeared twice in the collection. [ end of page 52 and page 75 ] . This should have been observed and corrected! Due to inexplicable reasons this review of this book took too long for me to complete. This made me more intimate with the book and the author in an intrinsic sense. If I had made another review of the same book other Haiku may be included as examples offering another perspective and verbal meandering perhaps invoking another symbolic journey .