HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

--RAM KRISHNA SINGH

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

1.

FRESHNESS

The withered leaves

blown in autumn
come again with the tired rains
the season confers
through the soft grey clouds
the growing freshness on naked trees

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

2.

CROSSING

When the sea is still

& mind is wingless
the shore & moon one:
we walk hand in hand
crossing horizons
hugging surge of time

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

3.
SPACE

How many defy

the space between
sleep & leap
I hear sounds
of cracked mirrors
& torn veils

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

4.
AGAIN
short nights & long days
sleep loss rustles a friction
echoing in bed
the cycle of cravings
over & over again

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

5.
DEATH OF A SONG

In the stillness of morning

hangs fog like smoke veils
her waiting in street
I watch my window
wavering shadow
announcing death of a song

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

6.
MIND
love without clothes
without bone has
a joy within:
soft, smooth & full
like the mind
creative & free

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

7.
ECHO
Nobody hears
the vacuum
mourning peace:
echo haunts my soul
like leafless trees
raising grief
to sick air

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

8.
EMACIATION
I am an image
they secretly deride
in the classroom
mental emaciation
bridges the gap
that feeds a teacher
to teach another

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

9.
WIND
I lost my sleep
over a thought I could not
make my own
the suns antidote changed
the voice of the wind

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

10.
I CANT SLEEP
It is for their love
of God they play loud music
or chant His name on
loudspeakers but it kills my
peace the whole night I cant sleep

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

11.
FRESH CATCH
the sea smells
from far off leaps to the sky
I drive through
the maze of returning folks
with fresh catch on their head

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

12.
HARDSHIPS OF THE SKY
I dont want to mount
the hardships of the sky
if the earths labor pain
is false or the action
stillborn with or without
scalpel the doctor
humiliates process

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

13.
SKY
awaiting the wave
thatll wash away empty hours
and endless longing
in this dead silence at sea
I pull down chunks of sky

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

14.
ISLAND
The shroud of fragrance
in a closed room
& a ghost
at the threshold
gnats & kites
abide my triumph
it all looks
an island

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

15.
FALLING MOON
Draped in white the night
embraces ripples
down the terrace the course
defies my gaze
the moon falls into pieces
down my sons cheeks

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

16.
TEABREAK
With mordant comments
he tries to geld a standpat
in a feminists meet
and turns a sook
at tea break

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

17.
SHIELD
The menopausal man
doesnt know whether
it is love or
pressure of the groin
he preaches
heteropromiscuity
searching for frolic
as another shield

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

18.
NEIGHBOR
with scheming mind
& crafty heart
a professional loser
perfumes the room
with flattering lips
& strays a preacher
into revolution

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

19.
IS THIS ALL?
With prayers cocktail
live animal existence
& boast, is this all?
in self-same cocoon
fungus of illusions grow
toadstools of damned tract

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

20.
KALI
Crudity
of the stone conceals
grace of nudity
the image of Kali
reveals to her devotee

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

21.
DIVINITY
The sun
on a mountain
grave illumines the path
to divinity unrealized
in soul

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

22.
WAVES
Watching the waves
with him she makes an angle
in contemplation:
green weed and white foam break
on the beach with falling mood

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

23.
HAIKU PRESENT
I wish I could live
natures rhythm free from
bondage of clock time
rituals of work and sleep
expanding haiku present

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

24.
CRACKS
The cracks on the parapet
have widened for the peepal
to stay green for once
rains too want us to drench
our heads and feel one
with cool wind
in a dark corner

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

25.
CRAZY
crazy these people
dont know how to go
down with the swirl &
up with the whirl but
play in the raging water

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

26.
BETRAYAL
Theres so much to see
from birds to butterflies
& mildewed roses
can I pick one for
the sun betrayed by clouds
the city didnt expect?

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

27.
TAKE OFF
resting his chin
on the back of his palms
he stands at
the dusted railing to watch
the planes roar & take off

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

28.
PAST
Theres little to sustain the past
looking beautiful each day
as we bury it or review
over a drink with strangers
who dont know & would forget soon

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

29.
HEAVEN
Heaven is
the frisson of union
with fishwife
behind the boulders
on sea beach

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

30.
WHISPERS
Seeking shelter
under the golden wings
of Angel Michael
a prayer away now
whispers the moon in cloud

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

31.
SHADOW
Last evening
I saw a flower bloom
today its faded
but my fear
lurking like a shadow
ever present
I cant erase:
emptying the mind
easier said than done

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

32.
GEOMETRY
with black & white marks
& nest of ants on its skin
the tree grows taller
shining through the geometry
of sun moon & halogen

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

33.
SECRET
When I asked
to open her secret
she showed me thumb
I thought
she would return
love for love

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

34.
RELEASE
Melting chrysanthemum
silent chromosomes
restless energy
stones in wood
where is the release?

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

35.
SILENCE
I clasp your hands
& feel the blood
running savagely
through your arteries
in tulip silence

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

36.
SHE
She is the tree
green & wide
abundantly dressed
overflowing
spreading her sleeves
blesses all
in her cool shade
solitude teems
with breezy songs

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

37.
CRUDITIES
the nude reads his skin peeling eyes
& curses the crumbled canvas
the wrinkling hands couldnt set:
she suffers naked burial
for simple art in crudities

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

38.
BONDAGE
I wish I could live
natures rhythm free from
bondage of clock-time
rituals of work and sleep
expanding haiku present

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

39.
AWAITING
Little candles fail
to illumine the deity
or golden dome
in the valley darkness reigns
and god too awaits light

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

40.
DIRECTION
nights prisoned friends
keep me awake with planes
flying over the ashram
every now and then I watch
the direction matters

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

41.
SCARED
slung-jawed awake
two grinning skeletons sit
bolt upright in bed
hear the shrieks next door but
too scared to call the police

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

42.
LOUT
My bones have holes for eyes
I search my teeth in the muck
leeches have sucked my blood:
wheres the lout who ate my flesh?

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

43.
PRICK
Unpruned roses
unmown grasses
make me aware
of the emptiness
the dusk in her room sounds
she searches out
her shadow in
the rising moon
I feel seasons prick

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

44.
TENSION
The blank space between words
is the burnt skin of time
I couldnt paint:
they stole the colors
& brush of the eyes

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

45.
WIND
I lost my sleep
over a thought I could not
make my own:
the suns antidote changed
the voice of the wind

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

46.
BROODING
Time is running out
cracks in walls develop fast
but I stay static
shrouded in cobweb
as if in dusk denying death
brooding slipped chances

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

47.
POETS
Watching the moon
in the western horizon
two haiku poets
scratch each others back and mock
the rest as neophytes

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

48.
OVERLOAD
Goes awry
the electrical circuit
in the brain cells
in my drugged sleep
I utter expletives
unmindful of
the victims:
I cant help my sensory
overload

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

49.
NUDITY
The wind lifts
her curved nudity hidden
in water curtain:
I touch the strings that whisper
love in each falling drop

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

50
TOO FAR
Each death has a passage
to surprise the dead
awareness matters
no solace the cows tail
in the rivers midst
heaven far, too far

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

51.
DUSTY COLONIES
Dusty colonies
recount in grammar of cough
new tales of hazards
near open cast pits
they move with graves on shoulders
mark my white shirt black

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

52.
SEASONS EYE
The naked tree
seems to sway
in hope of
green waves
spring promises:
here am I
prostituting smile
in mirror
despite change
in seasons eye

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

53.
SHADOW
raising the glass
to invite the lone moon:
silent shadow
suffer the falling leaves
yellowed with autumn

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

54.
LEMON IN COURTYARD
She props the stooping lemons
with stake but avoids
bending close to me:
I die to draw the blossom
in my twining arms
but she likes the other scent

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

55.
ECHO
Nobody hears
the vacuum
mourning peace:
echo haunts my soul
like leafless trees
raising grief
to sick air

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

56.
SNARES
weaving lies & hopes
he exposes his skill
with riddles only
fools himself & prides
in snares of deceits
buries his own peace

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

57.
STAINS
Layers of dust thicken
on the mirror water makes
the smuts prominent:
I wipe & wipe & yet
the stains stay like sin

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

58.
SOUNDS
How many defy
the space between
sleep & the leap
I hear sounds
of cracked mirrors
& torn veils

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

59.
FED UP
Cant I grab a little
warmth, fresh air & love
simple, sound & innocent?
Im fed up playing
life across the net
shuttling nightmare in cold

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

60.
JOY
moonlight lingers
on mango boughs like the fruit
sweet yellow sun
in my courtyard
cool shade travels with thin cloud
I see love dance

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

61.
LIGHT
Memory fades
like her body
in dim light
I bury my head
in open hands
to escape noises

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

62.
WAKING
standing at the edge
I long to float with waves &
wave with instant wind
on the dream waters breast
I read tomorrows wonder:
the secret of waking

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

63.
VISION
teary eyes
with sparks and lightning
dried vision
caged existence
seeks deliverance
muttering old prayers

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

64.
BODYS SONG
Awake in dream
he looks for the candle
loves invitation
lighting up in the dark
and sings the bodys song

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

65.
BEWARE
Professors beware
intellectual success
lies in inventing
lies to conceal common truths
and sound holier-than-thou

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

66.
SHADOWS
the mirror swallowed
my footprints on the shore
I couldnt blame the waves
the geese kept flying over the head
the shadows kept moving afar

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

67.
ISLAND
at the river
she folds her arms and legs
resting her head
upon her knees and sits
as an island

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

68.
ROTTEN RAT
Man is an animal
with a peculiar smell
says Bertolt Brecht:
he smells a rotten rat
as he waves his khaddar arms
with fake smile

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

69.
NIGHTS SILENCE
Unmoved in the wind
the rose still stands erect
in the nights silence
i imagine my teens
the street is lonely
& love-ache ever fresh
with stolen fragrance

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

70.
MEDITATION
Unable to see
beyond the nose he says
he meditates
and sees visions of Buddha
weeping for us

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

71.
PRAYER
On the prayer mat
the hands raised in vajrasan
couldnt contact God
the prayer was too long and
the winter night still longer

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

72.
RIVER
Ripples of darkness
tear the river
flowing within
I hear shrieks
of shadow amid
savage hails

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

73.
SEX IN PUBLIC
sex in public
background folk music
in Weston Park
love masquerades
under a foreign tree
I await driver
to take me home

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

74.
WATERY WEATHER
The watery weather
continues to shatter
the mortal shell
one by one
washes the paints
that hide the face

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

75.
HIGHWAYMAN
in the forest of her body
& steeps of her breasts
is the highwayman
I saw escaping the moon
over stream last night

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

76.
WATERY LIPSTICK
a happier image
with salubrious top
turns rapturous
as she tamps her love
with watery lipstick

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

77.
WATCHING
The painted paper-god & christ on the cross
stand on the dawn-colored wall of my bedroom
watching sex, prayer & restlessness

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

78.
MILITANT
Caught between flattery of politics
& democracy of opposition
he turns a militant & kills
both left & right

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

79.
HERE SHE GOES
Here she goes in the long light
and swiftly a shadow moves with her

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

80.
SMOKE
Who sees the smoke
of the thumb-sized flame
the body burns
the ashes of silence
float on the holy breast
tears pollute

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

81.
NEST
Taken out of me
the bone of my bones
I grow into her and be
each night discard the covers
seeking each other
return to the ancient nest

82.
COLD TRUTH

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

I cant cement cracks
nor save the frames from collapse:
the wreck reveals the myth
I need not knit new dreams
if truths so cold and stingy

83.
TEMPLE
Scratching his groin
a worshipper offers food:
the flattered deity
in flowery garbage, holy
water, incense and sweat

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

84.
DEAL
weaving no web
a dark fishing spider
mates in the creek
and curls up hanging from the twat
in one-shot deal

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

85.
BEER
In perfect accent
they discuss finance and
foam with colour
at the dining table
smell stale beer

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

86.
FLICK
shaped like a bird
a drop of water lands
on her breast:
my breath jumps to kiss it
before her pelvic flick

87.
BALDNESS
my thinning hairs
wave in the bath tub
clog the drain
with soap bubbles deride
my baldness

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

88.
GLEE
after a tiff
lying under the same blanket
two of us stare
the peeping moon and turn
with glee to each other

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

89.
BROWSING HAIKU

browsing old haiku

in the shade of a tree
he munches the noon
through a pouch of cashew
beery songs, and half-clad girls

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

90.
PAIN
coiled up inside
she lies a rejected shroud
and he mounts up
with mind between the thighs
multiplying pain at night

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

91.
PASSION
I love her undress
the light with eyes that spring
passion with kisses
she leaves her name again
for my breath to pass through

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

92.

BODY: A TANKA SEQUENCE

To avoid nagging
he gulps down pegs and pretends
every thing's normal:
keeping the mouth shut, hiding
whiskeyed breath and meditating
Trying all sides
and every position
to sleep a few hours
but pain in the neck conspires
with long winter nights
The lips in her eyes
and long hours in the mouth
no moist secret
between us to reveal:
now our backs to each other
She says she is
a pure vegetarian
and hates to take
even an egg 'coz it comes
from the chicken's vagina
Fondling her breasts
I incite a poem
on her body
eraze my self
stroking pubic darkness

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

Hearing him talk dung

she doubts his integrity
and curses him for
emitting lava from mouth:
I regret stomach upset
A tress of hair
she drops over the mole
on her forehead
thinking it's ugly and
hides her own gazelle eyes
The beads of sweat
on her breasts do not touch
her years or face
in candle light her shadow
is more restrained than my thought
Making love
she tastes the salt
on his shoulder
in the afternoon he pounds
like the surf into her flesh
The power goes off
suddenly summer heat chokes
in bed sleepless she turns
undoing a hook or two
of her tight blouse

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

93.

HERE AND NOW : HAIKU

awake
alone on the house top
a sparrow

a fish tail
dried up in river mud:
burning smell

sun rise
without newspapers:
post-chhat rest

hovers to the same

marigold I pluck for god
a green butterfly

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

turn into river

non-existing roads:
hudhud waves

counting sand
between the toes
my daughter at sea

her name
written on the sand:
a wave breaks

empty coffee cups

deride the syllables
I spin to make haiku

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

my hairs in air
reveal the baldness:
wank without wad

hidden between the sheets

my smothered senses
salted honey

slowly rising
from the clouds edges
autumn sun

a sleeping snake
curled between the eggs
layers of leaves

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

lying listless
on withered creeper
a golden bird

a yellow snake sneaks

through the blooming balsams bed
a lone frog puffs up

a drop embedded
in the half-opened bud
winter morning

drifting
in the nights silence
noons shadow

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

the sky
without a shadow
on the earth

wheezing his way

to Shivas hilly abode
a young miner

potholes:
spots of sunshine
wobble

dreaming her nude

the serpent rises:
first orgasm

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

cloning miracles
with the nights discharge
in condoms

late night sleep

no lotus in the dream
Chinese garden

fallen mangoes
after the midnight storm
morning drizzles

stars twinkling
the beetles path
from manure

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

stench of burning leaves

mounts with fog in the evening
asthmatic breathing

swollen fog
ready to make way
for the sun

wrapped in fog
the flying plane
seen by sound

standing behind
the window bars observes
shapes in fog

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

feels the shadow

with wet fingers on the beach:
sound through the fog

when sleepless poetry

fails to negotiate night
I wait for white dreams

among the white hairs

a solitary black one
keeps her hope alive

night washes the sky

the sun brings morning freshness
to my window

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

foam-maned waves
rise in the minds hush:
sinking dome

the wax drips

down the long hard candle
a soft hum

her face
reflecting light
a mirror

with failed words

seek immortality
write haiku

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

a vague smile
in moonless cave:
tempting silence

a load of wood
on her frail back
autumn evening

waiting for the train

alone on the platform
swatting mosquitoes

musky perfume
open unsleeping eyes
drowsy sweetness

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

with changing weather

they look for sun and shade both:
chameleon tune

Its utter helplessness

true, but to survive
one must be tamed

sparrows couple
on a withered creeper
peep of day

etched on her skin

a ghost rises from the flames:
fighting one more day

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

taking a nap
on oranges in his shop
a fruit vendor

two women argue

over price and weight of fish:
the hapless huckster

dragons play whirlwind

among the clouds meet & rain
unite earth & sky

the red light is on:

they all have secrets to hide
no use peeping in

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

a yellow spider
crouching in a corner
invisible webs

moving shadows
on the door curtain:
sinking sun

virtual flirting
untamed straggly bushes
dystopia

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

non-stop rain
confining me to facebook
depression

virtual flirting
untamed straggly bushes
dystopia

between the lantern

and the smart phone
a pizza-eating girl

etched on her skin

a ghost rises from the flames:
fighting one more day

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

from the ruins

rises a mute flame:
heavens song

her veil
hides the face
love too

in silence
one with the divine will
growing within

a quiet turning in
to partake of her silence:
roaring ocean

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

evening sky:
a pale moon behind
listless trees

rises drowsily
after a sleepless night
a sick sun

HERE SHE GOES: A COLLECTION OF MICROPOEMS

Copyright: Ram Krishna Singh, India