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

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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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