DRIED LEAF

A dried leaf
hanging by the spider's thread
swings wantonly


--R.K.SINGH

MIDNIGHT

Midnight--
absent whispers
from her room


--R.K.SINGH

LONELINESS

Seeking life
in the heart of crowd:
loneliness


--R.K.SINGH

MONOTONY

Silence of birds
and sun so miserly
I feel homesick:
mists, fogs and leaflessness
add to monotony


--R.K.SINGH

WINTRY WIND

Wintry wind
bangs the window tonight
my thoughts agitate


--R.K.SINGH

FIRST ROSE

The sun shines
on the winter blooms:
our first rose


--R.K.SINGH

SICK WOMAN

In the shade beside
a plastic sheeting hut he
lays a sick woman

--R.K.SINGH

ANTS

ants crowd
under the hibiscus:
snake's broken shell


--R.K.SINGH

MY MAN

Wasn't it joyous when
he held me to discover
like nobody dared before?

He took off all my clothes
and kissed me the first Eve:
made my world Eden

shaking senses with touch
he filled my being with love--
life changed forever

we were earth and sky
in embrace one soul
in sleep dreamt together

awake he made me aware
of my feminity
made me find my nest

escaping myself
I felt his stength, the man
became unity

how can I live without
the smell of his skin, my man
he leads me to bliss


--R.K.SINGH

(composed on 25 October 1992)

GOD

The word is not God
but the mind creates it
after its own image

the memories of patterns
the illusions and longings
the desires that become truth--

gods gurus and books
overload and hold freedom
to face fear and find

the real reality
untainted by magical
moments that self limit

within deeper recesses
undo psychic structures
the lusts of ages

and be completely quiet:
grow outside the known, without
thought, without withdrawing

when seeking nothing
experiencing nothing--
stillness becomes divine


--R.K.SINGH

NOVEMBER

Naphthalene smell
oozes from the sweater--
fourth November


--R.K.SINGH

HALLOWEEN

Between bare branches
two pigeons share shilence:
All Hallows' Day


--R.K.SINGH

PARROTS

Noisy parrots
returning to the tree:
sut set early


--R.K.SINGH

FEAT

He thinks he has achieved a feat
seeking security through division
but the fear haunts and thought multiplies
the problem the gap between

what is and what may be
the itch inside the skin
the memories of lovemaking
and routine pleasures now nightmare

with chemical change in blood and nerves
licks the tulip in drawing room
and thinks thoughtlessly mindlessly
inflicts more pain to himself


--R.K.SINGH

GODS FRIGHTEN

Trapped in temples
gods frighten my body:
I bow in bed


--R.K.SINGH

CHESTNUT

Under the blue sky
the chestnut trees bloom
white candles


--R.K.SINGH

Food

One grasshopper
and hundreds of ants:
food procession

--R.K.SINGH

BLIND

Blind
with their own sight
don't see the wonders
round them but kneel
and ask why
only me
too painful to see


--R.K.SINGH

COBRA

Raises its hood
a cobra in water:
algae criss-cross


--R.K.SINGH

FOSSIL

Exhibit fossil
of a tree trunk in oval:
lingam in the glass


--R.K.SINGH

KISSES

I love her undress
the light with eyes that spring
passion with kisses
she leaves her name again
for my breath to pass through


--R.K.SINGH

STRANGERS

Once so intimate
now uncomfortable strangers
smile at each other
in the party no one says
my name even once


--R.K.SINGH

SPARKS

Waving trees spark
the wires without lightning:
sky in the dog's mouth


--R.K.SINGH

PAIN

With the taste of bitter coffee
still lingering in my mouth
I gaze through the window
drawing in the harsh smell of water
beating on the crowded green

I remember how dreamily
I floated above her body
in the rains like this

but she won't care
now the storm numbs
and nothing lives save
the clouds that drift and squeeze
pimples on the scrotum


--R.K.SINGH

SHIVER OF CHERRY

A mist covers
the valley of her body
leaves memories
like the shiver of cherry
in dreamy January


--R.K.SINGH

CROWDED GREEN

Avoids searching
mushroom in the crowded green--
snake on the fence


--R.K.SINGH

MARKS OF TEETH

Candling in vein
leaves marks of teeth on her neck
utters holiness


--R.K.SINGH

PAIN

Hangs with breath
the knotted pain
in the chest

--R.K.SINGH

KIOSK

Greets no known faces
at the street-corner kiosk--
only folds of night


--R.K.SINGH

SILENCE

Streetlights die
with the onrush of rain--
walking to silence


--R.K.SINGH

SNAKES

Full of silt
the river overflows:
snakes under the waves


--R.K.SINGH

BREATH OF GOD

Seeks music in
love's masturbating keys
at his bed's foot
the breath of god lay forked
like a tongue of briars


--R.K.SINGH

MEDIOCRISY

Whatever the rut
they mate without the season
ejaculating
hatred from their mouths and stink--
their cum doesn't turn me on


--R.K.SINGH

LEFTOVER

After the tumble
buried between the sheets
leftover passion


--R.K.SINGH

LIGHTNING

The index finger
flickers across her nipples:
tremble of lightning


--R.K.SINGH

HELL OF SILENCE

The cocktail of drink
drug and meditation--
nightly yelps
tease unshared guilts
the hell of silence


--R.K.SINGH

TENNIS

Hits the ball
in the tennis court--
erect nipples


--R.K.SINGH

YEARNING

Spotty
yearning after
lovemaking


--R.K.SINGH

THE HELL INCITES

Discourse on heaven
and after-life pleasures
is bumptious bullying
to love without meaning
midst searches for the lost

so inciting is
the hell of cyber world
they forget to pray
and multiply their pain
corroding consciousness

but it doesn't matter-
whining in sleep or whinging
is part of crazy
nature in race with itself
and god a convenience


--R.K.SINGH

TURBULENCE

A clause in sleep
the wind trapped in the belly--
flight's turbulence


--R.K.SINGH

DYING LIGHT

Shrieking in the sea
my knotted self
the lines on the palms

spiders' network
gelaming with corpses
that have no face

yet their funeral
mirrors the eyes
waving with dying light


--R.K.SINGH

PAPER DEITY

In the alcove
burning spiders' net:
paper deity


--R.K.SINGH

MEDITATION BITE

Skinny mosquitoes
circle the young yogin:
meditation bite

--R.K.SINGH

DEPARTURE LOUNGE

Escapes the heat
in the departure lounge:
now boarding


--R.K.SINGH

PICNIC

Picnickers boat
on the edge of Maithon lake
dropping litter


--R.K.SINGH

SLEEPING BRAIN

Stretches his arms
and wiggles the toes in bed:
sleeping brain


--R.K.SINGH

DEATH IN DREAM

The body that died
and the body that quivered
with menstruation
is me in dream fear and hope
shake love to light the flame

stir the time static
for decades crippled impulses
fleshed as my daughter
touch the psychic memory:
I re-live the bliss through death


--R.K.SINGH

FLOWER MOON

swallows the pills
chanting mantra to sleep:
flower moon


--R.K.SINGH

WAITING

Sits on a mound
overlooking the camp
awaits signal


--R.K.SINGH

AUTUMN

Searching reason
in the labyrinthine pattern
a bullying autumn


--R.K.SINGH

JOURNEY

Boarding the train
I look for my luggage
midst the cries of theft

--R.K.SINGH

DARK FLOOR

Her lonely grief
melts in the candle wax
evening's dark floor


-R.K.SINGH

A NEW MORNING

Aged with the seasons
now seeks sojourn in the west
a new morning waits


--R.K.SINGH

Areolar Hue

Pours boiling water
on the teabag in the cup:
areolar hue


-R.K.SINGH

TEA

In the tea cup
stirs the teabag:
areolar hue

--R.K.SINGH

ACADEMICS

academics
in convocation gowns
circus clowns

--R.K.SINGH

BRIDE

With memories
waits for the night of love
the bride in veil

--R.K.SINGH

BARBED WIRE FENCING

My window opens
to the back of a garrage
where guards make water


at times show their dick
to the maid in my kitchen:
they care for none


how can I complain
if boys and girls make love
in the bush between


the children's park and
my backyard? they are distanced
by a barbed wire fence


--R.K.SINGH

DON'T CONDEMN ME

DON’T CONDEMN ME

It’s still linked but I don’t understand

or don’t want to understand because

I am too much with me and worry

about her dying libido and my

own shrinking sex amidst salsa chill

Bihu fever, Vishu rituals

ringing emptiness day and night shake

the age-wrapped youth for single-edge play

in forked flame carve image of heaven

to challenge the jealous God undo

sins of races flowing in my blood:

I love Him through the bodies He made

but they don’t understand redemption

in churning and parting of the sea

they don’t rejoice the flames of henna

on her palms nor let the lily bloom

in the valleys use the clefts and cliffs

to deface beauty and spike voices

don’t condemn me if I am not white

the water still flows in my river

--R.K.SINGH

HARE RAM

Keeps us awake
all night their high-decibel
chant of 'Hare Ram'

--R.K.SINGH

AT THE WINDOW

At the crowded window
implores the clerk to process
his papers but
he ignores, irritates
at the end -- abuses


--R.K.SINGH

READY TO HUG

Ready to hug
the moon and the venus
from my window


--R.K.SINGH

ON THE WALL

On the wall
witnesses of the past
moth-eaten


--R.K.SINGH

PEACE MISSION

He is amazed to see
so much corruption
in the system
of world peace

his colleagues envious
of his foreign jaunt
with the UN
and earnings

in dollars, rise so soon
in career and
have the best of
life and style

while I worry about
freedom in Congo
untamed humans
safe sojourn

--R.K.SINGH

CRAVINGS

Short nights and long days
sleep loss rustles a friction
echoing in bed
the cycle of cravings
over and over again

--R.K.SINGH

LINGAM

Searches thorn apples
to propitiate the lingam
in lonely sanctum

--R.K.SINGH

THE RIVER LEAKS

The river between
the thighs leaks from the palms
fails to cup the fire
melting furiously
through the red heart to the cave


--R.K.SINGH

SOME MORE HAIKU

Twenty nine years in
a vat yet not ready for
feelings of old age


Images converge
on the mirage of body
moulded yoni


Seeking pleasure
in moulded faces
tiny fingers


My being grows
from her flame in the mind
feeding soul


Expand smile
marigold's yellow petals--
the spring sun


Flying to the tubelight
one after the other
two owls picking moths


--R.K.SINGH

MOTHER

It's prayer to sink
into her flesh and bury
myself in her breast
to escape the faithless hands
that never became mother


--R.K.SINGH

DREAMS

Filled with worries
all her dreams in basket--
runs to catch the train
sand and mud dried on hands
ghostfish biting the lungs


--R.K.SINGH

FOG: SOME HAIKU

His presence
among the known faces—
evening fog

A thin fog
hides the wintry moon
rising slowly

Slowly clears
the morning fog
end of the year

Hides the sun
a dense fog in the morning:
waning winter

Stench of burning leaves
mounts with fog in the evening
asthmatic breathing

East faced
yoga in the fog
breathlessness

Shrouded in fog
the lone pomegranate
in the backyard

Wrapped in fog
the flying plane
seen by sound

Feels the shadow
with wet fingers on the beach:
sound through the fog

--R.K.SINGH

HOLI REVELRY

In their drunken chant
lurks divinity, the joy
let loose in rhythm
roses colour the spirit
drowsily lost and regained

--R.K.SINGH

SOME CINQUAIN POEMS

The sun
on a mountain
grave illumines the path
to divinity unrealised
in soul


The rains
cry to meet earth
fall from sky day and night
remind love always yields to arms
open

Let's know
dirty water
kills everyone no need
to blame only her if he too
is wrong


My voice
brown like autumn
crushed in noises I can't
understand days pass in colours
buried


Someone
opens the gate
stealthily lets the cows
in to graze lawn and make our house
widow


The leaves
fall and rust with
ashes heaped up by wind
in the lawn rises the pale earth
for breath


His talk
farting of horse
galloping, leaving track
of every thought and strategy
behind

Let's see
ourselves in them
linking our happiness
to theirs, cease dehumanising
god's gift


Shaping
true reality
hidden in outer world
intricately patterned like our
body


--R.K.SINGH

FOUR POEMS

1. HELPLESSNESS

I have no magical power
to change my restlessness
into glory radiating
peace or purpose in living:

they give me no room to better
men or myself but condemn
as one hanged for nothing:
poets are no living lessons

I stand aside ruminating
what I couldn't do or be
or await miracles through
circles and zigzags of the mind

even corrupt faith and curse
destiny for the maze
of my own making and yet say
I know the spirit's upward fire


2. I AM NO MOSES

I am no Moses receiving
God's message in lightning or thunder

none recognise me in the dark
nor can I see any without light

the cyst on my neck constantly
reminds me of my ugliness

the whitening chest and pubic hair
teel of the death of my potential

the earth needs timely spell of rain
and elements saved from human fears

I must redraw my dreams and visions
to brave life and the intriguing future


3. I WANT TO FORGET THE MYTH

I don't endorse their pact
to squeeze adulation and

control faith of the masses
to shed blood and spread darkness:

Idols may draw crowds to kill
and the spell may not last long

the temple doesn't attract me
I want to forget the myth

after the fascists owned him
Ram has ceased to be God


4. I CAN'T SING AND PRAISE

I couldn't make my bedroom church
reading psalms and Lord's prayer

the light of my lamp and
the portin of my cup couldn't

lift my soul mired in passions
and silence of the morning

the confessions couldn't remove
my anguish of ages

nor the tears and cries strengthen
faith, hope, and love-- the rock

slips the grip for enemies
within don't halt my body

glues to the ground seeking
darkness of the womb and joys

ever restless the child doesn't
grow and the father fails

in verses I can't chide fears
my face I dispise, can't find

freedom from the chemicals
sprayed in the air and the smog

oppressing my breath, the sun
fails to keep the covenant

the terrors of death are real
the traps overwhelm, I can't

escape my own creastions
the bed, the flesh, and serpents

that seize the house of God
I can't redeem, can't save

the soul in battle with me
in bed I can't sing and praise


--R.K.SINGH

I CAN'T HELP

Goes awry
the electrical circuit
in the brain cells

in my drugged sleep
I utter explitives
unmindful of

the victims:
I can't help my sensory
overload


--R.K.SINGH

WAITING

In the fog
seems smiling, ghost-like
perhaps half-dead
on the groaning ground
awaiting stretcher

SHRINKING INTO ITSELF

How to weigh the breath
the flame the soul or the ash
the body conceals:
I can't turn my inside out
nor know life's weight when lifeless

between earth and sky
it disappears one with
elements quiet
there's no way to know the thread
or its mechanism that binds

secures life now or
beyond what if I can't feel
the weight of the colour
on the leaves on tree maybe
shrinking into itself

GUESTS

No longer gods
the guests are turned away:
door bell dead

HAZY SUN

Sweating desire
inhales new sketches
with mind's pen

on the pillow
image by image
night passes

not knowing
how a hazy sun
rose from the sea


--R.K.SINGH

THE DAY IS SHORTER

The day is shorter
the night longer
and yet, sleepless

suffer the dark chill
in the air, in bed
I listen to roar

or whisper of
wingless worries
no high poetry

but nightmares trimming
the sun and the sky
that could never be