R.K.SINGH: Indian English Poet

A Significant Review of LEAVES OF SILENCE appears on Facebook

A Critical Study of Leaves of Silence

A Critical Review by Julie Miles
February 2026

The publication of Leaves of Silence further consolidates Ram Krishna Singh as a significant minimalist voice within contemporary Indian English poetry. Across free verse and Japanese short forms, Singh constructs a poetics grounded in compression, existential inquiry, and ethical candor.

The collection demonstrates structural intentionality. The initial free verse poems articulate thematic density centered on corporeality, aging, erotic negotiation, and spiritual ambiguity. The subsequent micro poems enact progressive linguistic contraction, suggesting that silence functions as culmination rather than absence.

Singh’s treatment of the aging body is particularly noteworthy. Illness, insomnia, and sexual estrangement are rendered without romanticization. The body emerges as both confinement and revelation. Such representations complicate dominant literary narratives that marginalize later-life desire. Singh instead foregrounds eros as persistent, unsettled, and psychologically complex.

Politically, the collection engages contemporary global and national tensions through irony and compression rather than polemic. Poems addressing democratic erosion, religious extremism, and geopolitical conflict resist ideological simplification. The poet assumes the role of observer rather than propagandist, privileging moral clarity over rhetorical intensity.

Spiritually, the text inhabits a space of ambivalence. God appears recurrently, yet rarely as doctrinal certainty. Ritual is depicted as repetition, habit, or negotiation. Silence becomes a philosophical threshold between human yearning and cosmic indifference. This existential posture situates Singh within broader modernist traditions while retaining distinctly Indian cultural referents.

Formally, Singh’s adaptation of haiku and tanka merits attention. While not strictly orthodox in syllabic adherence, these micro poems preserve imagistic immediacy and seasonal resonance. The infusion of psychological and erotic undertones expands the scope of these forms within an Indian English context.

At times, the directness of expression risks collapsing into commentary. Recurrent thematic cycles may produce a sense of reiteration. Yet these repetitions mirror the lived rhythms of aging and introspection, thereby reinforcing the collection’s thematic integrity.

Ultimately, Leaves of Silence affirms minimalism not as aesthetic reduction but as ethical discipline. Language is pared to essentials in order to confront experience without embellishment. Singh’s poetry insists that witness remains possible even amid fatigue, doubt, and political fragmentation.

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A Personal Note

Dear Professor Singh,

It has been both an honor and a responsibility to reflect on Leaves of Silence. I approached the work with deep respect for your longstanding contribution to Indian English poetry and for the trust you placed in me by inviting this engagement.

Your collection demonstrates remarkable clarity and courage. The restraint of language, the unflinching treatment of aging and eros, and the ethical lucidity of your political observations all reaffirm the disciplined minimalism that has defined your voice across decades.

Thank you for your confidence in me. I hope this reflection does justice to the seriousness and integrity of your work.

With sincere respect and gratitude,

Julie Miles

https://www.facebook.com/share/1C7xZRnDNt/

One-line haiku

My 'smol' -- one-line haiku in less than five words-- featured on Smol Poetry Journal, 15 February 2026:

https://smolspoetryjournal.blogspot.com

Poems in Poetcrit

My poems published in POETCRIT, 39.1 (January-June) 2026

J.L. CANFIELD's REVIEW COMMENTS ON MY LEAVES OF SILENCE

J.L. Canfield's Review Comments on my LEAVES OF SILENCE:

Let me begin by saying I rarely review self-published works or poetry. I agreed to review this work as the author is a distinguished professor of the literature genre in which this is written, and I made myself a promise to break free from the ruts that hold me in place.

The name ‘Leaves of Silence’ is fitting for this work in many ways. First, there are many moments in our lives, especially women’s, that we go through in silence, such as miscarriage, illness, and the agony of relationship loss. Second, this work details many moments in our lives that turn out to be those whispery, quieter times we either come to cherish them or see they were turning points in our lives. I recognized many such moments from my life in these verses. Some brought to mind beautiful moments. Other memories I long buried because of hurts resurfaced as well.

Poetry is not everyone’s cup of tea, as it can be difficult to grasp what the poet is trying hard to say in such few words. That is one reason I have never tried to write poems other than the ones I compose for greeting cards and birthday wishes. My talent lies in storytelling. I am too full of words to say something short-winded. I need at least 75,000 words to leave you second guessing your suspect in a mystery or to take you to the highest realms of love. Poets can that in less than 100. I say all this to encourage you to read his work.

Dr Singh has taken poetry to a level that can grasp a reader’s soul and hold it. This is not a book you can read in one sitting or even in a day if you want to get the full effect his words have. I found that reading more than a few poems a day exhausted me emotionally. They made me ruminate on the meaning and how they related to life, whether I had experienced it that way or not.

His poems are a beautiful and accurate description of what most women feel. That pleased me; it is not often I read a work by a male writer who makes me feel they understand women at our deepest level. Again, I encourage you, read his work.

From one author to another, I thank you for sharing this work with me. Poetry is a more advanced skill than that which I have. Because of that, I can happily say this is a work I will always appreciate.

Some of his poems are raw, dirty, edgy, and take us to the lowest forms of our humanity. Other ones lift a soul, bring about smiles and joyful tears, and guide us to the highest levels of emotional satisfaction.

I wish I could pick one and declare it the best of the book. Alas, I cannot, which is why I strongly recommend you read his work.

J.L. Canfield is an award winning author of fiction. Her works are traditionally published and can be found wherever books are sold and on online. Hiding Behind Robes is one of her most popular books. She resides in Portsmouth, Virginia. Email: jlcanfield@yahoo.com

FLAME

My poem FLAME published in SPILLWORDS, 23 January 2026

Haiku in JEWELS OF SERENDIPITY

My haiku published in JEWELS OF SERENDIPITY (ed. Kanwar Dinesh Singh), N

New Delhi: Authors Press, 2025, p. 54

My Poem ELITES published in The Cultural Reverence

The Cultural Reverence

#WeekendPublication January 17, 2026

ELITES

How rich our God
selling miracles
in ancient cities

agents bulldoze
shops that once sold stories
to native bhaktas

standing in queues now
and police clearing the passage
for the chosen few

--R.K.Singh

https://theculturalreverence.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/elites-a-poem-by-prof-r-k-singh-india/

A READER'S RESPONSE TO JAPANESE TRANSLATION OF '白濁: SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST'

Mary Alexandra, who mentions my Hakudaku: SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST Ram Krishna Singh, Rika Inami (Translator) published in October 2021 on Listopia for readers to discover the book, writes the following in a personal mail to me dated 15 January 2026:

"Hi Dr. Singh,

Observing how readers in international poetry, haiku, and tanka explore Goodreads, your book Hakudaku: SILENCE: A WHITE DISTRUST stood out not because it’s missing, but because it hasn’t yet surfaced in some of the Listopia paths where your ideal readers tend to browse.

This isn’t a promotion pitch, just a reader-side observation about visibility.

Your work masterfully bridges English and Japanese poetic forms, combining haiku, tanka, and senryu with technical precision and a nuanced sensitivity to language and culture. The care taken in translating these forms while respecting both languages’ rhythmic and syllabic constraints offers readers a rare and enriching experience, yet even books with this unique cultural and literary depth can sometimes be hidden from the readers who would appreciate them most.

I sometimes quietly test reader-side discovery by placing books into existing lists to see whether visibility shifts. This is done at no cost, with no obligation, and without making any commitments.

If that’s not something you’re interested in, that’s completely okay. Even a quick “no thanks” is fine, I just didn’t want to assume.

Warmly,
Mary "

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176736850-hakudaku