Friday, June 26, 2009

From Lady Nyo's blog...

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Poems from Dr. RK Singh
By ladynyo

RK Singh has appeared here before and it is a joy and delight to post his poems which he has graciously allowed permission.

RK has many websites, is a prominent and distinguished poet from India and through many months of correspondence, we have struck up a friendship.

Although already a published poet of over 34 books and 162 critical reviews, RK has a great enthusiasm for new writers and I am deeply honored he reads my poetry. I find his so fresh and provocative in the best sense for a poet: reading his deeply visual poems, they propel me to write more, not to imitate, but to have courage that small poems can have the impact of those with many more words. RK’s work is so powerful to me, that clearly here, ‘less is more’.

It’s the Monsoon season in his part of India, and he is awaiting the rains. The temperatures are soaring and humanity there barely breathes, awaiting the cooling, life giving rains. A few tanka that reflect those conditions but others of a different nature. Dr. Singh is prolific to say the least. It was hard to choose only these, but like a box of Godiva chocolates, they are so rich we best go slowly. There will be many more later.

Indeed, the power of ’small’ poems.

Lady Nyo

NO MOIST SECRETS: SOME TANKA

Layers of dust thicken
on the mirror water makes
the smuts prominent:
I wipe and wipe and yet
the stains stay like sin

When I have no home
I seek refuge in the cage
of your heart and close
my eyes to see with your nipples
the tree that cared to save from sun

In the forest of your hair
my finger searches
the little pearl of blood
that stirs the hidden waters
and contains my restlessness

When I inhale in
your mouth and exhale stroking
hair or caressing
I ride you into joy and
make you hail morning like earth

Winter is caught in
waves of narrow discussions
under the blanket
fingers move by nipples erect
without sensing sinsummation

Life limits between
whence the sun rises and where
it goes to relax:
joys of a fleeting moment
I see Aditi in her eyes

Will you marry my soul?
or lend me your body?
I’ve used it to the core
the rament is tattered now
even ghosts despise it

Burning without warmth
one more hot and sweaty spell
of summer, restless
down with stroke, without light, fan
exhausted, alone in bed

Slung-jawed awake
two grinning skeletons sit
bolt upright in bed
hear the shrieks next door but
too scared to call the police

The nightly ghosts crowd
my mind’s passage to forge
gods’ names in disguise
I fail to scan the face
of thought and life in the dark

Night’s prisoned friends
keep me awake with planes
flying over the Ashram
every now and then I watch
the direction matters

A cloud-eagle
curves to the haze
in the West
skimming the sail
on soundless sea

The chill outside
deprives me of the bright moon
I breathe in my fears:
asthmatic bouts haunt and
jealousy itches the throat

RK Singh
Copyrighted, 2009


Some websites of Dr. Singh’s to read more of his poems:
http://rksingh.blogspot.com/2006/10/im-no-river-tanka-collection.html
http://www.geocities.com/profrksingh/tanka.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-River-Returns—A-Collection-of-Tanka-poems&id=538863

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

* From RK Singh this morning…
* More Good News From Dr. RK Singh….
* RK Singh’s Poem from “Sexless Solititude and Other Poems”

Tags: critical reviews, Dr. RK Singh, Monsoon, poetry, tanka

This entry was posted on June 23, 2009 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “Poems from Dr. RK Singh”

1. Berowne Says:
June 24, 2009 at 12:14 am

Very evocative; I enjoyed reading them.
And a very gracious introduction, Lady N.
2. ladynyo Says:
June 24, 2009 at 2:54 pm

Dr. Singh’s poems are always enjoyable, even where the cultural differences might make one stumble. However, the world is wide and we are expanded when we learn more than our culture.

Thank you, Berowne.

Lady Nyo
3. R.K.SINGH Says:
June 26, 2009 at 5:01 am

Thanks Jane for your nice intro to me. I must say you have selected some very good verses.
The rains still elude this part of the country but monsoon seems to have arrived in Mumbai.
R K
4. ladynyo Says:
June 26, 2009 at 10:06 am

Hello RK!

I am sorry the rains still elude your part of the country but it must be only a matter of time.

Your verses are evocative and provocative and I picked them for those reasons! However, it was hard to choose because they all have those designs. Like picking a favorite …impossible!

We also are dry and hot here, in the high 90s, but what can one do except hope?

My best!
Jane
5. R.K.Singh Says:
June 26, 2009 at 3:28 pm

Yea, we all seek our solace in hope. I would also add, faith and love. The three make the triad of Christianity.
It drizzled this afternoon for a short while and filled us with hope that the temperature will fall and we will be comfortable. I have been feeling very uneasy for the last two to three weeks. Our life is not in tune with nature and so, nature takes its toll.
I liked your selection of my tanka and it is always encouraging to read fellow poets’ comments.
Love
R K

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