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A collection of R.K. Singh's haiku first published in English/Italian in Pacem in Terris (2003)
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Pacem in terris- Pasqua I Easter 2003
R.K. Singh
PEDDLING DREAM
Haiku collection
(TRENTO, ITALY: EDIZIONI UNIVERSUM, 2003)
The sky couldn’t retain all of the moon now enteringmy house through windows
A star shines brightbeside the crescent moon:she fakes a smile
Through the small windowsgaze at the moon hid behindcloud after cloud
Shaking handscouldn’t part with the hennaon her palms
Reluctant to climbthe spiral staircase--bathing in kitchen
Measures lonelinesssip by sipat dining table
From the alcoveremoves faded flowersand kills black ants
1
Thick dust on leavesunwashed by rains for days--stagnant time
Oleander andhibiscus blaze with passion--making love in sun
Post-lunch nap:in the drawing room countsbeads of sweat
Two wolves smellthe carcass in fieldheat wave chills
Summer vacation:the noisy roomcooler pricksmy silence
Dust storm this evening--end of the mango seasonwithout tasting fruit
Throwing stonesat unripe mangoes--two urchins
2
Couldn’t keepfreshness of leafin water
The first rains comingback from the desert home-plateau souvenir
One more empty daybut in the mailbox a hintof hope tomorrow
Where shall I keepthe thirty years junk ifI go elsewhere?
A sad soulunder the mango--my husband
In the wellstudying her imagea hooker
Endingthe night’s long journeyher short story
3
Patterns of hairblock the flow:flood in bathroom
Cooking smoke wavesto the afternoon sun:ruddy backyard
Chilly nightno soul on the roadguard at gate
Welcoming the sundew drops on dry leaves--an epitaph
After the walktwo women relax on benchexchanging tensions
After cleaning the maid leaves behindan oily smell
A tiny spideron the marigold suckingits golden hue
4
Seeking its rootsaround oleander leavescustard-apple
A Christ crucifiedwith the violence of musicin the hall
After the partyempty chairs in the lawnnew moon and I
A dead voicecalling up at dawn:drowsy eyes
Such a wild changein the mirror beside her--I look a stranger
Stoops to setpleats of her sareemid-August
Meeting her once andso much love in one nightto last the whole life
5
Each sun aggravatessadness moment by moment:watching lonely street
Narrowly escapethe midair web of spiderperched on hibiscus
After extractionhe gives me my old toothlist of drugs and new bill
A mothstruggling for lifeon wire
Palms waving to greetthe first rain of the season:I wait in the room
Craving for a lickof the salt on her skinto become one with her
Desire for diamonddies with price I can’t afford:curse astrologer
6
Wish I could be partof the quietude this morning:the sun’s so promising
Between virgin curveshe deep-breathes evening mistrests in the hollow
A load of woodon her frail backautumn evening
Their shadows dissolveand reappear walkingalong the river
On a cyclehe sells bouquets and rosespeddling dreams
A watchman gazesthe stars on her bodyelements clack
Alone on the platformwait for the trainswatting mosquitoes
7
Summit of silence:crossing the river-feet dry
Scars of existence--wintry sun and chilly nightcrouching on footpath
A dead man couldn’t keep standing--lies in dust
Knocking emptinessI cross the valleys withinnow stand at stone gate
Love’s beautyhappening in the soulGod presence
Silence of class testoccasion for haiku thoughtslost in lecture
To give voice to stonehe chisels the soul-imageKrishna plays the flute
8
A lamp on the river--the breast in bridal gracewaving in the gloaming
In the spring sunthe lone pomegranate treesmiling with buds
The blue-white dappleson the canvass seeingthe eye of silence
The mirror is so smallI can’t see the oceanbeyond my own look
Silent Ram shedstears over the bodies burntin temple’s name
Violence breedersclimb power ladder--peace stings
Tears invisibleon his water faceBuddha meditates
9
Through long shadowsin the morning rememberinggradual death
After the ‘plane bomb’stuck between concrete rubblesa mother and child
In the naked gravesome flesh still clings to the bones:flies drone the last breaths
Lost in black boxhe searches love to live--smoulders in ash
They still bomblands for peace repeatAugust 6
They kill and hidein mosques pray, in fearkill more, and flee
To hunt the huntersflames mate with flames--touch the sky
10
Her presence--alien sensationin my veins
In my courtyard swoopneem, peepal, cheeku leaves:autumn’s ballet
Between her fingersand lips swaying some puffed rice
Still fresh in the hanky’s fold--jasmine
Soft footstepsof students bunkingclass test
Her smilearrival of springat the bower
A butterflyrestless over the othertrying to console
11
Ahead of us-racing hyacinthsin the river
Two lizardsinside the switchboardturned on
Two of usat the waterfallspraying love
The whole night waitingfor the train running latedrowsy sunrise
The nightqueen fragranceseeps in from the windowsmy bedroom blooms
She snuggles upin my arms her dimplesjoy of heaven
Her birth--a poem dancingin the eyes
12
Swirling spiralof her skirt spills tides of dreamand memory
Echoes of night songflutter our embrace in bed:rushing morning rays
Drowsy daywaning sex and love-seasonal trick
Unattached--drop of water onlotus leaf
Baked and crackedthe sugarcane field melts into mud
Recedingwinter leaves behindallergies
One more yearhanged with calendar-a new god
13
Picking at a deadfrog on the road--a crow
A crow picks atcow’s back in the afternoon--drooping rag-picker
Green velvetfrom gate to door--monsoon end
A moving train--confined in water bottlerhythmic ripplets
Two toads croakingin the drain celebratesudden shower
Chased by a cata ratsinking into the sand
Sculpturing psychein the city of dumb dreams:idols sweat in sun
14
Elements clackin the small house shudderthe harp and strings
God, the first victimin the divided city:one more house torched
Basking in the pastthey grow backward and yet talkabout the future
Tattooed on her backa nude exhibits a nude--FTV model
Cut wronglyeach body a slave--grey faces
Tainted tonguesweave mazes to stopbirths of light
Continuingafter ejaculation--anti-climax
15
Her wet lingerie revealsmore than her body--I drown in her sea
A stray spermgrows in the ovumblooms as puffball
Winter chill--her face growsmore wrinkles
I see a fingerpoint to the eye in her breastmist lingers on lips
No letters today--addresses of his dead friendsgreying in diary
With changing weatherthey look for sun and shade both:chameleon tune
She resentsremembering allahin her car
16
In the class testetching nudes on the desktwo late comers
Night bombingoleander gardenwhite as death
Vultures waiting forthe remains of sacrificeon the temple tree
Seeking forthe white of the sky in your closed eyes
It’s still overcastfumes rise from smouldering ashes--terrorists’ attack
On the marble gravemating sparrows celebratepeace in cemetery
So much nightaround the street light-no one’s safe
17
Heat wave burns and blowsthe withered nests whole nightbirds wail searching for shades
In the AC roomlast night’s coldness continues:outside summer sun
Clad in swimsuither body in water sweepswaltzing ripplets
He sees the worldthrough the light of the bodywith single eye
Lingering in bed:to go to church or pub--Sunday morning
Bedside--our night clothes await washing
It still lingers likethe taste of stale love last night:man and mask one
18
Joy of unionreduces as rhythm falls:restless embers grow
She hides the mirrorwith rose and lipstickand keeps her fiction
Reshuffling the shelvesit’s only dust, in alleyssneezing scholarship
Gentle breaths prickcheek and chest unclinginglooking away
We come togetherto make love against the wall--harvest for no one
She undresses indim light perfumes her bodyfills room with herself
Love waves rise and fallbetween our shores of souldrinking each other’s sea
19
Shouting at her--the breakfast aggravatesfire in the throat
The lone mushroom--a pregnant womanstares out of the window
After dinner leaves a freezing bananaon the bed
Moving shadowsin the silence of the room--windows rattle
Hungry eyesrest on their graffition the desk
Face hiddenat the window hearknown voices
Facing the sunthe lone flowerdying to bloom
20
After the sunsetwheels of a returning cartalong the paddy
Unmoved by the windhe sits on a rock wearingpeace of the lake
Unable to seehis pale shadow reeling throughvapour of the earth
Night washes the sky--the sun brings morning freshnessto my window
After daysof depressing rainsgolden orb
Her frisky bouncelike snakebird springing its headin water preying
Her eyes flash in darkthe eel slides into her caveI watch the mirror
21
They take off againtheir unthrown nets frighten fish--water turns whiter
Storms circling withinlove is vision in actionblue dot in deep space
Sound turns fainterwith greying geometrya rusted sign
Hope in hidden wordsthe invisible essencenearer dawn’s glory
The mountain doesn’t knowthe river flows through its skinnow stains memory
Fillingemptiness of the roomwith ikebana
A fly flyingin IC 809free of cost
22
On a sheet of icethe chick trying to free itselffrom its mother’s claws
Two souls celebratesailing on flames of white lightnew millennium
The lone hibiscuswaits for the sun to bloom:morning’s first offering
Rain-soaked sunsheds its sultry light--her bare back
Dew dropon a blade of grassrainbow
A child’s fingers feelthe butterfly lyingone with yellow leaves
Shell-shocked or frozenhe stands in tears on hilltopcraving nirvana
23
A dead leaf hangsby a spider’s threadinvisible in sun
Staring at each othertwo fishes in half-filled tankready for truce
All guests gone:after the late partynight and I alone
Icy bed:moving the pillowcloser to hers
Only two of us--and a big house with roamingrats and cockroaches
Under a treein meditation sunken:a quiet stone
No god appearsin the dark of my closed eyes--dream-image falters
24
The little toddlerwith her fey appearance:a woodland sprite
Seeking good newsI watch the lines on my palmstaking new turns
We meet againin the album ever freshher memory
Waving arms of treesconspire with overcast dayto drench again
Tending the hooksshe blushes to seethe line of jewels
The half moonon her neck reminds of lovebefore departure
Her trilling laughon the phone--spring love
25
Chess of love:checkmate beforeplaying the game
Falling leaves--a sheet of autumnin the courtyard
They all look fora little more moon comingback from movie
Waves of mist shinewith sun the day resumeslaughter shakes each bough
Fearing allergieshe misses full moon partysavours white light
After morning walkthe trio gossip each dayfresh revelation
The holy Gangestolerates the city’s garbageeven rape and death
26
Greeting the first rainsafter months of soaring heat--the lone mango falls
Exploring the worldin haiku silence Godan event
The string of lifelost in the knots of small things:living tragedies
Sweeping gelled leavesthey raise dust in my compoundagitate windpipe
The lone letter boxrusting in rain for yearsnone come to open
Prolonged rains keepdahlias from blooming--seeds die again
Shining on rose-leavessilken layer of dew drops:gloss of her mauve smile
27
Chilly wind slapsthe window panes closed to keepcross-legged couples warm
Cloud over clouddarken earth and hide stars:dawn and dust one
Red oleander andhibiscus calling morningto Kali
Making loveshe presses with her nails:sparrow sports
After lunchstretching legs in cubby-hole:a frog
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