MY POEMS in Syndic Literary Journal, #10

SELECTED POEMS

By Ram Krishna Singh

 I TOO DESCEND

Some fresh bones, and designers dress
distorted hopes, cataract vision
hardly any better the face of the body

and if there is a soul, the soul hears

the map guides the mind's midnight
but the destination is different

deception is courage

they know the end of the journey
and get down when the train stops

I too descend


 INDIFFERENCE?

Being good
couldn't make me know
any better

I was harmless
they sold my name
and became
what I couldn't

in the middle of daylight
I vanished like faces
from voters' lists

with no difference
to who wins and who loses


 WHOLENESS

The body is precious
a vehicle for awakening
treat it with care,said Buddha

I love its stillness
beauty and sanctity
here and now

sink into its calm
to hear the whispers in all
its ebbs and flows

erect, penetrate
the edge of life and loss
return to wholeness



 FOUR TANKA


professors beware
intellectual success
lies in inventing
lies to conceal common truths
and sound holier-than-thou



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

 
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


each night
peace is taken away
by my father's shrieks
and our useless effort
to calm down frayed worries


--RAM KRISHNA SINGH
India

http://syndicjournal.us/syndic-no-10/poetry-i-too-descend-indifference-wholeness-by-ram-krishna-singh/

BIPLAB MAJUMDAR TRANSLATES FOUR POEMS OF R.K.SINGH INTO BANGLA

Biplab Majumdar, editor, VOICE OF KOLKATA and SAHITYA UTSAV has translated three of my poems, 'Jharia: A Haiku Sequence', 'Clay', and 'Mirage'  into Bangla and published them in SAHITYA UTSAV,  Vol.14, 2nd October 2013:

Biplab Majumdar is a noted bilingual poet based in Kolkata.

My poem nominated for Pushcart Prize

http://www.nazar-look.com/awards

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.663017617053027.1073741836.288696441151815&type=1

The information is communicated vide email by the editor and publisher of Nazar Look, Taner Murat:

Nazar Look	7:45 PM (36 minutes ago)
to Jack, Larry, Kevin, Alan, Alan, me, Tom

Dear Authors, 

Hereby we announce our official nominations for the Pushcart Prize for our publication year of 2013:

- Jack Peachum, Virginia, United States: Darwin (Nazar Look, issue 27, March 2013)

- Larry Lefkowitz, Israel: Blaze; A Flowered Vest (Metric Conversions – Poetry of Our Time)

- Kevin Marshall Chopson, Tennessee, USA: On the Sleeping Body of God (Nazar Look, issue 32, August 2013)

- Alan D. Harris, Michigan, USA: Pearls; Emancipated Innocence (Metric Conversions – Poetry of Our Time)

- Ram Krishna Singh, Jharkhand, India: I Am No Jesus (Nazar Look, issue 33, September 2013)

- Tom Sheehan, Massachusetts, United States: Summons of the Mountain (Nazar Look, issue 35, November 2013)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nazar-Look/288696441151815

http://www.nazar-look.com/awards/

Happy reading,

Nazar Look Editorial Team

MY WIFE VISITS HER HOME IN PATNA FOR THE CHHAT PUJA: SOME IMAGES AS SHARED BY ALOK PATNI (ALLAHABAD)

Nazar Look, November 2013 uses my Tanka Sequence

SPIRITUAL  FLICKERS: A TANKA SEQUENCE

Plodding  away at

season’s conspiracies

life has proved untrue

with God an empty word

and prayers helpless cries

I wish I could live

nature’s  rhythm free from

bondage of clock-time

rituals of work and sleep

expanding haiku present

on the prayer mat

the hands raised in vajrasan

couldn’t contact God—

the prayer was too long and

the winter night still longer

the mind creates

withdrawn to its own pleasures

a green thought

behind the banyan tree

behind the flickering lust

I can’t know her

from the body, skin or curve:

the perfume cheats

like the sacred hymns chanted

in hope, and there’s no answer

unknowable

the soul’s pursuit hidden

by its own works:

the spirit’s thirst, the strife

the restless silence, too much

unable to see

beyond the nose he says

he meditates

and sees visions of Buddha

weeping for us

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

the lane to temple

through foul drain, dust and mud:

black back of Saturn

in a locked enclosure

a harassed devotee

not much fun—

cold night, asthmatic cough

and lonely Christmas:

no quiet place within

no fresh start for the New Year

--Ram Krishna Singh

http://issuu.com/kirim-tatar-kitaplari/docs/nazar_2013_11_online#download 

OLA SAWAH, Freelance Translator & Writer from Lebanon, translates my Tanka into Arabic

TWENTY TANKA OF R.K.SINGH  TRANSLATED INTO ARABIC BY OLA SAWAH, A LEBANESE FREELANCE TRANSLATOR AND WRITER 

1.

on the wall

the window grill's shadow:

midnight pain

overwhelming touches

indifferent after-taste 

على الجدار

ظلال شباك النافذة

ألم منتصف الليل

اللمسات الغامرة

غير مبالٍ لمذاقها

2.

each night

peace is taken away

by my father's shrieks

and our useless effort

to calm down frayed worries

كل ليلة

يُؤخَذ السلام بعيداً

مع صرخات والدي

وجهودنا العديمة الفائدة

لتهدئة المخاوف المتوترة

3.

professors beware

intellectual success

lies in inventing

lies to conceal common truths

and sound holier-than-thou

 حذاري أيها الأساتذة

فإن النجاح الفكري

يكمن في تلفيق

الأكاذيب لإخفاء الحقائق المشتركة

والصوت الذي هو أقدس منك

4.

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

ابتلعت المرآة

آثار أقدامي على الشاطئ

لم أتمكن من إلقاء اللوم على الموج

واصل الأوز التحليق فوق الرؤوس

 واستمرت الظلال بالإبتعاد

5.

striving hard to feel

the image of spring again

the whole body blooms

love gently and silently

revives the final flame

حاولت جاهداً أن أشعر

صورة الربيع مرة أخرى

يُزهِر في كامل الجسم

والحب، بلطف وبصمت

يحيي الشعلة الأخيرة

6.

striving hard to feel

the image of spring again

the whole body blooms

love gently and silently

revives the final flame

حاولت جاهداً أن أشعر

صورة الربيع مرة أخرى

يُزهِر في كامل الجسم

والحب، بلطف وبصمت

يحيي الشعلة الأخيرة

7.

the mind creates

withdrawn to its own pleasures

a green thought

behind the banyan tree

behind the flickering lust

يخلق العقل

مسحوب بملذاته الخاصة

فكرة خضراء

وراء شجرة البانيان

وراء الشهوة الوامضة

8.

from the cozy nest

between the fallen logs

smells my arrival

a hedgehog in backyard--

cataract vision

من العش الدافئ

بين الأخشاب المتساقطة

تفوح رائحة وصولي

قنفذ في الفناء الخلفي- -

رؤية مظلمة

9.

the drying trees

give my age:

autumn

warmth of new day

hot tea and singing birds

الأشجار التي تموت

تكشف عن عمري:

فصل الخريف

دفء يوم جديد

شاي ساخن وطيور مغردة

10.

muttering prayers

in the silence of exam hall

a newcomer

with seized wit:

teachers delight

أتمتم الصلوات

في صمت قاعة الامتحان

شخص جديد

مع ذكاء مستغل:

هذه فرحة المعلمين

11.

on the prayer mat

the hands raised in vajrasan

couldn't contact God--

the prayer was too long and

the winter night still longer

على سجادة الصلاة

رفع يديه في الفاجراسان

لم يستطع التواصل مع الله -

كانت الصلاة طويلة جداً

وليلة الشتاء لا تزال أطول

12.

i can't know her

from the body, skin or curve:

the perfume cheats

like the sacred hymn chanted

in hope, and there's no answer

لا أستطيع أن أتعرف عليها

من الجسم، أو البشرة أو التضاريس:

فالعطر يخدع

مثل ترتيل ترنيمة مقدسة

بكل أمل، وليس هناك جواب

13.

a tress of hair

she drops over the mole

on her forehead

thinking it's ugly and

hides her own gazelle eyes

خصلة من شعرها

أوقعت فوق الشامة

على جبينها

معتقدةً أنها قبيحة

وتخفي عينيها الغزلان

14.

the sea smells

from far off leaps to the sky

i drive through

the maze of returning folks

with fresh catch on their heads

تفوح رائحة البحر

من قفزات بعيدة إلى السماء

أنا أقود نحو

متاهة من الناس العائدين

مع صيد جديد على رؤوسهم

15.

no cakes or cookies

to celebrate my birthday

this new year eve

lunar eclipse and blue moon

cheer the cup in foggy chill

لا حلوى ولا كعك

للاحتفال بعيد ميلاد ميلادي

عشية هذا العام الجديد

خسوف القمر والقمر الأزرق

يبهجان الكأس في قشعريرة ضبابية

16.

on the roof top

she waits for her man with

moon cake and lantern:

a flash of silver showers

on the mist-shrouded figure

على السطح

تنتظر رجلها مع

كعكة القمر وفانوس:

ومضة من الشتاء الفضي

على الصورة المغلفة الضباب

17.

a black dog moves

freely among reporters

lying on the ground

to shoot militants in Taj

resisting the commandos

يتحرك كلب أسود

بحرية بين الصحفيين

يستلقي على الأرض

لإطلاق النار على محاربين في تاج

الذين يقاومون قوات المغاوير

18.

plodding away at

season's conspiracies

life has proved untrue

with god an empty word

and prayers helpless cries

يتثاقل بعيداً نحو

مؤامرات الموسم

لقد أثبتت الحياة عدم صدقه

مع الله؛ كلمة فارغة

وصرخات الصلوات العاجزة

19.

unable to see

beyond the nose he says

he meditates

and sees visions of buddha

weeping for us

غير قادر على رؤية

ما وراء أنفه، يقول

يتأمل

ويرى رؤى لبوذا

يبكي من أجلنا

20.

unknowable

the soul's pursuits hidden

by its own works:

the spirit's thirst, the strife

the restless silence, too much

لا سبيل لمعرفته

مطاردات الروح الخفية

بواسطة أعمالها الخاصة:

عطش الروح، والصراع

الصمت المضطرب، أكثر مما ينبغي

Translated by OLA SAWAH

Writer  & Freelance Translator

• lb.linkedin.com/pub/ola-sawah/46/717/367

http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/27830507