Saturday, November 23, 2013

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

POET RAM KRISHNA SINGH


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

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

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.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

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 JackLarryKevinAlanAlanmeTom

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)
Happy reading,
Nazar Look Editorial Team

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

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




Sunday, November 10, 2013

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


Friday, November 01, 2013

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