SHAKING THE HAND AND OTHER HAIKU

1

after the sunset

wheels of a returning cart

along the paddy

2

sea waves

roll from faraway

white peaks

3

traveling back

from the waves of bliss

a foam-leap

4

seeking smell

in cactus flowers:

late monsoon

5

sunrise

behind the temple

cloud’s edge

6

hanging

door protector—

Buddha

7

wiping his face

under the umbrella

an old man with books

8

reshuffling the shelves

it’s only dust, in alleys

sneezing scholarship

9

falling leaves--

a sheet of autumn

in the courtyard

10

the blue white dapples

on the canvas seeing

the eye of silence

11

on a cycle

he sells bouquets and roses

peddling dream

12

a dead leaf hangs

by a spider’s thread

invisible in sun

13

a load of wood

on her frail back—

autumn evening

14

on a sheet of ice

the chick trying to free itself

from its mother’s claws

15

after cleaning

the maid leaves behind

an oily smell

16

the lone mushroom—

a pregnant woman

stares out of the window

17

vultures waiting for

the remains of sacrifice

on the temple tree

18

chrysanthemum

on a mossy roof

deeply rooted

19

night bombing

oleander garden

white as death

20

all night rain

the gaping roof

her shelter

21

moving shadows

in the silence of the room—

windows rattle

22

a dead voice

calling up at dawn:

drowsy eyes

23

still fresh

in the hanky’s fold—

jasmine

24

her presence

some alien sensation

in my veins

25

stoops to set

pleats of her saree

mid-August

26

after the party

empty chairs in the lawn

now moon and I

27

two lizards

inside the switchboard

turned on

28

ahead of us –

racing hyacinths

in the river

29

baked and cracked

the sugarcane field

melts into mud

30

suspended

on the spider’s web

a white flower

31

a butterfly rests

on the butterfly tattooed

on her sunning back

32

enveloping

all of the moon at night—

white chrysanthemums

33

safe from sun

under nascent leaf

a small fish

34

peeling paint

from the drawing room—

shadows flicker

35

a crescent

in the western horizon—

missing the moon

36

pausing between bites

on the guava tree

the parrots

37

a yellow snake

slithers on the grass—

dewy trail of love

38

moving between

the fingers of a toddler

the first winter rain

39

the wax drips

down the long hard candle—

a soft hum

40

taking a nap

on oranges in his shop—

a fruit vendor

41

switching on

the hearing aid:

wife’s warm soup

42

wet bodies

of bathing women—

full moon night

43

her lone grief

melts in the candle wax

evening’s dark floor

44

a pregnant clown

on the squalid mattress—

crying inside

45

gulmohar tree

a girl with lilac

awaits a rickshaw

46

lust in mirror

models in lingerie:

winter rain

47

her fingers push

the roots into the earth—

touch-me-not

48

the perfume

from her armpits—

yoga

49

a snake’s dead skin

near the fence:

she stands unmoving

50

after the tumble

buried between the sheets

leftover passion

51

the bed is short

and the covering shorter—

crouching alone

52

fingers feel

decaying fireflies

in lamplight

53

pigeons fly

for shelter through smoke—

blazing windows

54

looking for shade

under the shapeless cloud

a rag picker

55

alone

the cell phone on her bed

rings

56

bedside—

our night clothes

await washing

57

seeking for

the white of the sky

in your closed eyes

58

shell-shocked or frozen

he stands in tears on hilltop

craving nirvana

59

a moth

struggling for life

on wire

60

measures loneliness

sip by sip

at dining table

61

in the well

studying her image

a woman

62

filling

emptiness of the room

with ikebana

63

shaking the hand—

couldn’t part with the henna

on her palms

64

between virgin curves

he deep breathes evening mist

rests in the hollow

65

no letters today—

addresses of his dead friends

graying in diary

66

a lamp on the river—

the breast in bridal grace

waving in the gloaming

67

her smile

arrival of spring

at the bower

68

staring at each other

two fishes in half-filled tank

ready for truce

69

greeting the first rains

after months of soaring heat—

the lone mango falls

70

making holes

in the wooden cross

white ants

71

cloud over cloud

darken earth and hide stars:

dawn and dust one

72

her wet lingerie reveals

more than her body:

I drown in her sea

73

icy bed:

moving the pillow

closer to hers

74

seeking good news

I watch the lines on my palms

taking new turns

75

prolonged rains keep

dahlias from blooming—

seeds die again

76

a dead man

couldn’t keep standing

lies in dust

77

she resents

remembering Allah

in her car

78

death in silence speaks

moonlight cleaves to the body

peace gropes for poems

79

dragons play whirlwind

among the clouds meet and rain

unite earth and sky

80

the mirror is so small

I can’t see the ocean

beyond my own look

--R.K. SINGH

email:

profrksingh@gmail.com

web: http://rksingh.blogspot.com

Address:

Professor R.K. Singh

Head, Dept of Humanities & Social Sciences

` Indian School of Mines

DHANBAD 826004, INDIA

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Wednesday, May 4, 2011 - 16:12

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