A Comment on SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST

 

Niels Thomas offers the following comments on my poetry book SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST translated into Japanese by Rika Inami :

 

"This remarkable bilingual edition brings together 48 English haiku and senryu and 48 English tanka from one of India's foremost contemporary poets, Ram Krishna Singh, masterfully translated into Japanese by Rika Inami. The translation process itself is a feat of artistry, navigating the structural differences between English syllables and Japanese sounds. As Rika explains in the preface, English words like "rice" or "think" may be one syllable but become two or more sounds in Japanese, making the translation into the traditional 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 forms a delicate and challenging craft. The poems themselves explore the human condition with clarity and depth, at times soaring to the heights of the soul and at others descending to the earth to capture the intimate details of life. The cynical depiction of current affairs witnessed on street corners, the painful reality of recent armed conflicts, and the unavoidable influence of the world affected by the coronavirus all find their place in this collection. What emerges is a testament to the flexible soul and sensibility of the poet, moving freely across heaven and earth and responding to the world around him. This bilingual treasure deserves to reach readers who appreciate poetry that bridges languages and cultures."