Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Rika Inami Translates My Poems into Japanese

                                                         
 
         moonless
   this November night
      livelier with stars
        and breathing silence
         perfumed with night queen

(C)Ram Krishna Singh

     月なきの霜月の夜のクィーンの香に
      星なほ光(て)りて静寂息づく

             Translation by Rika Inami


last night’s rain
paves way for a clear sky
this morning
the breeze is cool and the sun
adds a new hue to the spring

(C)Ram Krishna Singh

昨夜(きぞ)の雨 天のまほらへ道ひら.  く 朝の微風に春陽の彩(いろ)

                                  Translation by Rika Inami


life is beautiful
when you enter another
body…mind
and become one
in each other

C)Ram Krishna Singh


                    人生は美しきかな 汝(な)のからだ他に入り心ひとつとならむ


                                         Translation by Rika Inami


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/07/85-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-5.html?m=1


her name
a soothing music
in the mouth:
I forget the pain in back
I seek the sky in silence

                                      (C)Ram Krishna Singh
君の名は甘美なる音か そびらの痛み忘れてしじまの空に

  Translation by (C)Rika Inami


lemon tea—
shade of her lipstick
on my lip

(C)Ram Krishna Singh


レモンティー我が口に汝の紅かげる




brightness of the star
half-closed bedroom window:
moon shies away

 (C)Ram Krishna Singh




星明り差す寝屋の窓 月去りぬ

Translation by (C)Rika Inami
 
 
 
moon energy
fills up the inner space—
call to wake up

(C)Ram Krishna Singh

月の精 裡なる満つる覚醒の声

Translation by (C)Rika Inami稲美里佳


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/09/96-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-16.html

 

stain-dried lingerie

reminds of the night's act―

flowers of lips

 (c)Ram Krishna Singh


紅しみる下着おぼゆる夜の行為

Translated by Rika Inami

...............................

smallness of the small

no sharing half-chewed betel—

mischievous whisper

in bed fuzzy sensation

ruddy lips that’s no love


(c)Ram Krishna Singh 


噛みかけ蒟醤(キンマ)を分かたず

めくるめく最なか愛なき魔性ささやく

 Translated by Rika Inami

 

https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/09/97-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-17.html 

 

 

in the white of night

sighs for supreme delight

steal tender pleasure

manipulating wetness

in bed unmask simple sin


(C)Ram Krishna Singh

 

白き夜に至高の喜悦 愉楽へと罪晒す寝屋の湿りに誘う


Translated by Rika Inami

 

greet the sun

on the terrace—

two roses

(C)Ram Krishna Singh

 

テラスにて真日をむかうる薔薇二つ


Translated by Rika Inami

 

https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/09/98-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-18.html 

 

 

November morning--

too many thorns to reach

the only rose

and the tormenting thought

that I am forsaken


(C)Ram Krishna Singh


霜月の朝 いばら多きの薔薇一輪 捨てらるるより痛み劇しき

 Translated by Rika Inami


choking air

in a walled colony:

two tired pigeons

perch on overhead tank

whisper pity on us


 (C)Ram Krishna Singh


コロニーに充つ息詰まりタンクの上(へ)の二羽のハト倦み我ら憐れむ

 Translated by Rika Inami


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/09/99-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-19.html

 

 

a robin whispers

our talk in bed last night—

another bird

(C)Ram Krishna Singh


昨夜(きぞ)の閨 こまどり睦む他の鳥と

 Translated by Rika Inami


light switched off

love sliding on

window pane

moon too shies away

behind the bare tree


 (C)Ram Krishna Singh


明かり消え窓なづる愛に裸木の陰へと月は遠のく

 Translated by Rika Inami



if I die today

it won’t matter to any—

I have no worth

they all care for themselves

search nearest in curved space

(C)Ram Krishna Singh

今日死なば大事にあらず … われ空の曲面検索にあたいせず

 Translated by Rika Inami


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/10/101-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-21.html

 

I’m not alone

waking up in the grave—

angels await

my rise to eternity

my love’s union again


                       (C)Ram Krishna Singh
 

墓中なれ

独り目ざめず―

天使わが

永遠(とわ)の昇華と

再和合待つ

Translated by Rika Inami
 


Easter Sunday—

blood stains stick on the cross

more bomb blasts

  (C)Ram Krishna Singh

十字架に爆裂の血滲()むイースター

 Translated by Rika Inami

 https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/11/104-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-24.html

 

earthy body

and nightness of silence

fear in mirror

return to the river

echoing hollowed sound


 (C)Ram Krishna Singh


静寂の夜

現身のおそれ

反射し

うつろに響き

川へと還る


Translated by Rika Inami

 https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/11/105-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-25.html

 

 

 

an island

between the head and fate lines

bridges black hole

in life’s labyrinth shadows

move always ahead of me


(C)Ram Krishna Singh


知と運命を

結ぶ島

ブラックホール

我に先んず

迷宮の影


Translated by Rika Inami

https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/12/106-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-26.html 


Good Friday

clouds and wind without rain:

boasts of giving

 (C)Ram Krishna Singh

受難日や

雨なき風雲

授の奢り

Translated by Rika Inami


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/12/107-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-27.html

 

sudden downpour--   

even in sleep I worry

about the virus


 (C)Ram Krishna Singh


夕立やー

寝ても案ずる

ウイルスなり


Translated by Rika Inami

https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/12/108-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-28.html 

 

in the air

I expected romance—

corona

avoid her kiss

and breathing too


 (C)Ram Krishna Singh

 

なんとなし

ロマンス恋(こお)し

コロナ禍に

口づけに呼吸(いき)

するも避けんか

Translated by Rika Inami


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2020/12/109-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-29.html

 

house arrest:

           full moon of April

     a shadow stirs

(C)Ram Krishna Singh

  謹慎中

  4月の満月

  影さわぐ

Translated by Rika Inami
 


astral sky

new cycle of quest

changed mindset

a better version of self

sublimation of love-life


 (C)Ram Krishna Singh


中天に

新たなる

巡り見ん

より良き我へ

愛の生の昇華


Translated by Rika Inami


https://poet-rikainami.blogspot.com/2021/01/111-poet-of-fifth-dimension-ai-31.html

 

『白濁 SILENCE: A HWITE DISTRUST』
1
ever evading
happiness for the now—
unfinished song
*
つかのまの
幸をのがれて
未完の詩
*
2 
moonless
this November night
livelier with stars
and breathing silence
perfumed with night queen
*
月なきの
霜月の夜の
芳香に
星なほ光(て)りて
静寂(しじま)息づく       
*
5
lemon tea—
shade of her lipstick
on my lip
*
レモンティー
我が口に汝(な)の
紅(べに)かげる         
last night’s rain
paves way for a clear sky
this morning
the breeze is cool and the sun
adds a new hue to the spring
*
昨夜(きぞ)の雨 
天のまほらへ
道ひらく 
朝のそよ風              
春陽の彩(いろ)
7.
filling emptiness
waves dance over each other—
the sky meets the sea
*
茫漠の
波間を踊る―
空と海       
*
(C)Ram Krishna Singh
Translated by Rika Inami稲美里佳
*

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST reviewed by Andrea Cecon

https://issuu.com/prof.r.k.singh/docs/newhaikutankabook

https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/06/29/34332/

https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/6058

    The e-book  is celebrated as the Book of the Week by The Haiku Foundation.

https://archive.org/details/silence_202006

https://www.scribd.com/document/466678685/SILENCE-A-WHITE-DISTRUST

http://creationandcriticism.com/__silence_a_white_distrust_by_r_k_singh.html

    The poem is published on CREATION AND CRITICISM, 30 June 2020.



Singh, Ram Krishna, “Silence: A White Distrust,” The Haiku Foundation Digital Library,
accessed July 5, 2020, https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/6058. View also
https://issuu.com/prof.r.k.singh/docs/newhaikutankabook .

Talking about Prof Ram Krishna is a real pleasure for me.  I met him on the Web about twenty
years ago and his poetics hit me hard that time like  today.  Born in Varanasi in India, in my
opinion, he is one of the most interesting  contemporary English-language Indian writers,
published  all over the world.

His new book, SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST, confirms a style  and, above all, a rare
coherence in today's literary panorama.

This collection consists of high quality haiku and tanka poems and can be approached as a long
chain of linked verses (as suggested by the sub-title itself), or as a set of poems that can be read
separately.  Since I am not a writer and an expert in tanka poetry, I will concentrate my
analysis especially on his haiku.  For example, the set consisting of two haiku and a tanka:

greet the sun
on the terrace—
two roses

November morning--
too many thorns to reach
the only rose
and the tormenting thought
that I am forsaken

stunted bud
in the earthen pot—
winter sun

is one of my favourite. The idea of solitude, but much more the abandonment, is effectively
conveyed by the use of images such as 'November morning'  and 'winter sun' , for example. Or
the following sequence of two tanka and one haiku:

earthy body
and nightness of silence
fear in mirror
return to the river
echoing hollowed sound

long waiting
short consultation—
ophthalmologist

morning smog—
an asthmatic with grandson
coughing restlessly
on the terrace even
a limping crow seeks fresh air

which brings attention to the dramatic problem of pollution in India.  Among his haiku and
senryu present in this collection, the following three are notable for simplicity (but not triviality),
 in my opinion, which is a peculiarity of this poetic form:

visiting home—
shadows of forgotten days
on the wall

on the terrace
facing the sun
an empty chair

and this one inspired by the famous Indian holiday, Diwali:

noise of crackers
monotony of light
Diwali

But there is also room for other topics in his writings. Many of his works are highly erotic. This
one, for example:

stain-dried lingerie
reminds of the night’s act—
flowers of lips

and also the Coronavirus pandemic, which seems to have inspired many authors around the
world in this period, finds its place:

sudden downpour--
even in sleep I worry
about the virus

A theme masterfully taken up in this sequence of two haiku and a tanka:

with spring comes
burial of romance:
COVID-19

quarantined
I clear my throat
behind the face mask
breathe in unknown viruses
suffer new repressions

now lockdown
cut off life:
castration

This collection is something that leaves a mark on the reader. Poetry proves once again to be an
effective means of communication to convey entire pieces of our life, and thinking of the poems
of Prof. Ram Krishna Singh, the choice of Japanese-inspired poetics, with its essentiality, turns
out to be once again a good choice. SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST is a beautiful book not to
read quickly.

Andrea Cecon


Bio note:

Andrea Cecon is a hearing aids technician, a traveller, a haijin published all over the world and also an ebook apprentice. His first ebook won the 3rd place in Sharp Writ Book Awards contest 2011 (category: poetry). Residing in Cividale, Italy, with his wife, Russian haijin Valeria Simonova-Cecon. He finds his inspiration in memories, travels, and the everyday life. His books can be viewed on
www.amazon.com/author/andreacecon



http://www.lucacenisi.net/2020/07/15/ogni-respiro-e-debito/


Ogni respiro è debito

Presentazione della silloge Silence: A White Distrust. An Experimental Poem in Linked Form di Ram Krishna Singh (2020) a cura di Andrea Cecon.

 

Parlare del Professor Ram Krishna non è facile, per me. Lo conobbi in rete una ventina di anni fa e la sua poetica mi colpì forte allora come oggi. Nato a Varanasi, in India, compone haiku in lingua inglese da circa quattro decadi e ha già pubblicato 46 libri. Presente anche all’interno di riviste internazionali, rappresenta uno degli autori indiani contemporanei più interessanti.
Questa sua nuova fatica letteraria – Silence: A White Distrust – mostra uno stile e, soprattutto, un equilibrio sempre più rari nel panorama letterario odierno.
La raccolta si compone di haiku, senryū e tanka di alta qualità. Nel complesso, il suo lavoro può essere visto sia come una lunga catena di versi collegati (come suggerito dal titolo stesso), sia come un insieme di poesie fruibili separatamente e parimenti godibili.
Non essendo uno scrittore od un esperto di poetica tanka, mi concentrerò principalmente sui suoi haiku in questa mia analisi.
Per esempio, l’insieme formato da due haiku e una tanka:

greet the sun
on the terrace—
two roses
(accolgono il sole/ sulla terrazza –/ due rose)
November morning–
too many thorns to reach
the only rose
and the tormenting thought
that I am forsaken
(mattino di novembre –/ troppe spine per raggiungere/ l’unica rosa/ e il tomentoso pensiero/ del mio abbandono)
stunted bud
in the earthen pot—
winter sun
(una gemma acerba/ nel vaso di terracotta –/ sole d’inverno)
è tra i miei preferiti. L’idea della solitudine – anzi, di più, dell’abbandono – viene veicolata efficacemente attraverso l’utilizzo di immagini quali “November morning” e “winter sun”. Oppure ancora la seguente sequenza:
earthy body
and nightness of silence
fear in mirror
return to the river
echoing hollowed sound
(un corpo di terra/ e l’oscurità del silenzio/ fremono allo specchio/ ritornano al fiume/ echeggiando vacue sonorità)
long waiting
short consultation—
ophthalmologist
(una lunga attesa/un breve consulto –/l’oftalmologo)
morning smog—
an asthmatic with grandson
coughing restlessly
on the terrace even
a limping crow seeks fresh air
(smog mattutino –/un asmatico con il nipote/ tossisce senza sosta/sopra il terrazzo anche/ un corvo zoppicante in cerca d’aria fresca)
che porta l’attenzione sul drammatico problema dell’inquinamento in India. Tra gli haiku e i senryū presenti in questa raccolta, si fanno poi notare, a  mio avviso, i seguenti tre per semplicità (nota: non banalità), peculiarità che è propria di queste forme poetiche:
visiting home—
shadows of forgotten days
on the wall
(visita a casa –/ ombre di giorni dimenticati/ sulla parete)
on the terrace
facing the sun
an empty chair
(sul terrazzo/ affronta il sole/ una sedia vuota)
e questo, dedicato alla famosa festività indiana Diwali:
noise of crackers
monotony of light
Diwali
(suono di crackers/ monotonia di luce/ Diwali)
Ma c’è anche spazio per altri argomenti nei suoi scritti. Molte delle sue opere si caratterizzano, infatti, per tonalità decisamente erotiche, come nell’esempio che segue:
stain-dried lingerie
reminds of the night’s act—
flowers of lips
(la lingerie macchiata/ rievoca l’atto notturno –/ fiori di labbra)
nonché la pandemia da coronavirus, che sembra aver ispirato, invero, molti altri autori a livello globale:
sudden downpour–
even in sleep I worry
about the virus
(acquazzone improvviso–/ anche nel sonno mi preoccupo/ del virus)
Si tratta, in realtà, di un tema ripreso efficacemente anche in questa sequenza:
with spring comes
burial of romance:
COVID-19
(con la primavera arriva/ la sepoltura del romanticismo:/ COVID-19)
quarantined
I clear my throat
behind the face mask
breathe in unknown viruses
suffer new repressions
(quarantena/ mi schiarisco la gola/ dietro la mascherina/ inalando virus sconosciuti/ e subendo nuove restrizioni)
now lockdown
cut off life:
castration
(ora il lockdown/ recide la vita:/ castrazione)
Presupponendo una buona dose di riflessioni e ragionamenti, affrontare questa raccolta lascia indubbiamente il segno nel lettore. In essa, infatti, l’esperienza personale e quella collettiva si fondono insieme in maniera feconda. La poesia si dimostra ancora una volta un mezzo comunicativo efficace per trasmettere interi frammenti della nostra vita, e pensando alle opere del Prof. Ram Krishna Singh, la scelta della poetica d’ispirazione giapponese, con la sua essenzialità, risulta ancora una volta vincente.