SEXLESS SOLITUDE AND OTHER POEMS: Another Review
A BOOK REVIEW
SEXLESS SOLITUDE AND OTHER POEMS; R.K.SINGH,PRAKASH BOOK DEPOT, BAREILLY,2009, Rs 98, pp-86 ISBN -978-81-7977-307-9
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BY DR. RAM SHARMA, SENIOR LECTURER IN ENGLISH, J.V.P.G COLLEGE, BARAUT, BAGHPAT, U.P., INDIA
Dr. R.K.Singh is an established name in Indian English Poetry.He has to his credit 11 poetry collections, namely ,My Silence [1985], Memories Unmemoried[1988], Music Must Sound[1990], Flight of Phoenix[ 1990], Two Poets; R.K.Singh [ I Do Not Question ] Ujjal Singh Bahri [ The Grammar of My Life] [1994], My Silence and other Selected Poems; 1974-1994[ 1996], Above the Earth`s Green [1997], Every Stone Drop Pebble [ a haiku collection , jointly with Catherine Mair and Patricia Prime ,1999], Cover to Cover ; A collection of Poems[ jointly with Myriam Pierri and Giovanni Campisi ,2003] , and The River Returns [2006]. This is his 12th poetry collection.
Among the many collections of poems the poems of R.K.Singh attracts us by its content and style and we get a rare pleasure by reading these.In the foreword of this volume renowned Indian English Poet Prof. I.K.Sharma writes,
`` A poet of modern sensibility ,Dr. Singh has drawn inspiration from diverse literatures of the world , from the English-speaking to the non-English , such as Japan, France, Chile, Yugoslavia etc.`` [ p-1]
There are 99 pearls in the form of poems in this poetry volume.In the first poem of the volume entitled `Don`t Condemn Me`, the poet is requesting not to condemn him for the conversation of sex.
`` sins of races flowing in my blood;
I love Him through the bodies He made
But don`t understand redemption
In churning and parting of the sea
[ Don`t Condemn Me p-1]
In the next poem entitled `Barbed Wire Fence` he discusses the love making of boys and girls in the bush.
` how can I complain,
If boys and girls make love,
In the bush between
[ Barbed Wire Fence p-2]
The poet start pondering about sex when he is alone and in wintry nights but his verses are not obsene .His sweaty desiresn compel him to scribble verses when he is alone.Again and again he thinks about naked company with laughs. Such poems like `Overload, Hazy Sun, Aloof,Winter, Again and Again ` expresses the above thoughts.
`` now fail to have
What I always had,
Her naked company
With tingling laugh,
Slurred with passion
[ Again And Again p-7]
Dr. Singh doesn`t consider it bad to talk about sex in solitude and he is against to create own morals and principles to stop love making or stopping of celebrating Valentine`s day.He is against those persons who takes law in their hands to stop lovers or celeberation of Valentine`s day..In such poems as ` Group Dance, Liberation, I Hang Nobody`s Picture, Portraits We Fear To See` tell this very feeling.
`` Culture is not repression
But sublimation through expression
Why do they police
Art for lesbianism
Homosexuality
Naked sex or blasphemy
[Portraits We Fear To See p-25]
The poet forces on open love and he don`t care of psalms to sing or going to churches.For him this is not devotion to supreme authority but this is open business.
`` I see no saviour come
To rescue me when mired
I seek freedom from myself
[ Valley of Self p-26]
The poet creates his own world of sexless solitude and he enjoys this world without any barrier.These poems entitled ` The Other Poetry,Sleeping Light ,Arriving Early,Total Image, Body; A Bliss, Creation Orgasm, Stripped And Naked etc have such thoughts.
``To create is to die,
Die to love , to time
To memory , to god
To everything we know
Do or experience
[ Creation p-32]
Dr. Singh revives the old tale of Adam, Eve and snake through such poems.as `Snake,God , Sex And The World, Erotics Of Bygones`
``Hiding or waiting
It raises its head when least
Expected, a snake
[ Snake p-61]
Dr. Singh also diverts our attention towards present day problems of peace ,human rights and terrorism in his poems like `Peace Mission,Politics Defies Silence, Human Rights,Terrrorism,
``Each day ends in fear
Of one or the other kind
Living in uncertainties
It`s life in death
[ Terrorism p-71]
The poet encourages our morals through his verses. Such poems as `On Her Birthday,Ignite Minds With Flickers, etc
``You have worlds to conquer,
And miles to go , my dear
You must rear the goose
And have the gold each day
[ On Her Birthday p-11]
He is quite realistic in such poems as `I Am No Moses and I Am No Jesus`
``I am no jesus
But I can feel the pains
Of crucification
[ I Am No Jesus p-44]
The poet creates realism and he no more want to go to God or sing Psalms .He wants to mix these feelings of love to Almighty.Like Osho`s `From Sambhog to Samadhi` , he takes us from sex to Nirvana
``The sky frightens with lightning and rain,
Raises neither fire nor quenches the earth
I`ve lost a chance to create despite ritual
End of the day and her parting with a kiss
[ Nirvana p-77]
Dr. Singh looks to me Lord Buddha or Osho and he completes his preaching in an innovative way .He is not vulgar at all.All these poems are written with good intentions and insight .He presents various forms of love in this volume as the loved, the spurned,as the winner or loser.He has created magic through his verse libre.He is sensuous compact in his verses. He has fused in this volume love, sensuality and the meaning of life. This is innovative new poetry volume, a must read for every avid reader. And lover of English literature.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Courtesy: http://poetryfirst.ning.com/forum/topics/sexless-solitude-and-other?page=1&commentId=3511464%3AComment%3A846&x=1#3511464Comment846
SEXLESS SOLITUDE AND OTHER POEMS; R.K.SINGH,PRAKASH BOOK DEPOT, BAREILLY,2009, Rs 98, pp-86 ISBN -978-81-7977-307-9
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BY DR. RAM SHARMA, SENIOR LECTURER IN ENGLISH, J.V.P.G COLLEGE, BARAUT, BAGHPAT, U.P., INDIA
Dr. R.K.Singh is an established name in Indian English Poetry.He has to his credit 11 poetry collections, namely ,My Silence [1985], Memories Unmemoried[1988], Music Must Sound[1990], Flight of Phoenix[ 1990], Two Poets; R.K.Singh [ I Do Not Question ] Ujjal Singh Bahri [ The Grammar of My Life] [1994], My Silence and other Selected Poems; 1974-1994[ 1996], Above the Earth`s Green [1997], Every Stone Drop Pebble [ a haiku collection , jointly with Catherine Mair and Patricia Prime ,1999], Cover to Cover ; A collection of Poems[ jointly with Myriam Pierri and Giovanni Campisi ,2003] , and The River Returns [2006]. This is his 12th poetry collection.
Among the many collections of poems the poems of R.K.Singh attracts us by its content and style and we get a rare pleasure by reading these.In the foreword of this volume renowned Indian English Poet Prof. I.K.Sharma writes,
`` A poet of modern sensibility ,Dr. Singh has drawn inspiration from diverse literatures of the world , from the English-speaking to the non-English , such as Japan, France, Chile, Yugoslavia etc.`` [ p-1]
There are 99 pearls in the form of poems in this poetry volume.In the first poem of the volume entitled `Don`t Condemn Me`, the poet is requesting not to condemn him for the conversation of sex.
`` sins of races flowing in my blood;
I love Him through the bodies He made
But don`t understand redemption
In churning and parting of the sea
[ Don`t Condemn Me p-1]
In the next poem entitled `Barbed Wire Fence` he discusses the love making of boys and girls in the bush.
` how can I complain,
If boys and girls make love,
In the bush between
[ Barbed Wire Fence p-2]
The poet start pondering about sex when he is alone and in wintry nights but his verses are not obsene .His sweaty desiresn compel him to scribble verses when he is alone.Again and again he thinks about naked company with laughs. Such poems like `Overload, Hazy Sun, Aloof,Winter, Again and Again ` expresses the above thoughts.
`` now fail to have
What I always had,
Her naked company
With tingling laugh,
Slurred with passion
[ Again And Again p-7]
Dr. Singh doesn`t consider it bad to talk about sex in solitude and he is against to create own morals and principles to stop love making or stopping of celebrating Valentine`s day.He is against those persons who takes law in their hands to stop lovers or celeberation of Valentine`s day..In such poems as ` Group Dance, Liberation, I Hang Nobody`s Picture, Portraits We Fear To See` tell this very feeling.
`` Culture is not repression
But sublimation through expression
Why do they police
Art for lesbianism
Homosexuality
Naked sex or blasphemy
[Portraits We Fear To See p-25]
The poet forces on open love and he don`t care of psalms to sing or going to churches.For him this is not devotion to supreme authority but this is open business.
`` I see no saviour come
To rescue me when mired
I seek freedom from myself
[ Valley of Self p-26]
The poet creates his own world of sexless solitude and he enjoys this world without any barrier.These poems entitled ` The Other Poetry,Sleeping Light ,Arriving Early,Total Image, Body; A Bliss, Creation Orgasm, Stripped And Naked etc have such thoughts.
``To create is to die,
Die to love , to time
To memory , to god
To everything we know
Do or experience
[ Creation p-32]
Dr. Singh revives the old tale of Adam, Eve and snake through such poems.as `Snake,God , Sex And The World, Erotics Of Bygones`
``Hiding or waiting
It raises its head when least
Expected, a snake
[ Snake p-61]
Dr. Singh also diverts our attention towards present day problems of peace ,human rights and terrorism in his poems like `Peace Mission,Politics Defies Silence, Human Rights,Terrrorism,
``Each day ends in fear
Of one or the other kind
Living in uncertainties
It`s life in death
[ Terrorism p-71]
The poet encourages our morals through his verses. Such poems as `On Her Birthday,Ignite Minds With Flickers, etc
``You have worlds to conquer,
And miles to go , my dear
You must rear the goose
And have the gold each day
[ On Her Birthday p-11]
He is quite realistic in such poems as `I Am No Moses and I Am No Jesus`
``I am no jesus
But I can feel the pains
Of crucification
[ I Am No Jesus p-44]
The poet creates realism and he no more want to go to God or sing Psalms .He wants to mix these feelings of love to Almighty.Like Osho`s `From Sambhog to Samadhi` , he takes us from sex to Nirvana
``The sky frightens with lightning and rain,
Raises neither fire nor quenches the earth
I`ve lost a chance to create despite ritual
End of the day and her parting with a kiss
[ Nirvana p-77]
Dr. Singh looks to me Lord Buddha or Osho and he completes his preaching in an innovative way .He is not vulgar at all.All these poems are written with good intentions and insight .He presents various forms of love in this volume as the loved, the spurned,as the winner or loser.He has created magic through his verse libre.He is sensuous compact in his verses. He has fused in this volume love, sensuality and the meaning of life. This is innovative new poetry volume, a must read for every avid reader. And lover of English literature.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Courtesy: http://poetryfirst.ning.com/forum/topics/sexless-solitude-and-other?page=1&commentId=3511464%3AComment%3A846&x=1#3511464Comment846
posted by Ram Krishna Singh at 3:08 AM
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