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/
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
posted by Ram Krishna Singh at 11:06 PM
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