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Ram Krishna Singh, translated from Cremean Tatar by Taner Murat

Stranger

 

I don’t know where I lived

in my former existence

but the hell I’ve breathed

for three decades here

couldn’t adapt my soul:

I remain a stranger

to them and to the cold walls

that put out the candle lights

in my roofless house

 

Yabanğî

 

Eskí barlîgîmda

ka-yerde yaşaganîmnî bílmem

ama mínda kîrk senedír

íşíme tartkan ğehennem

ruhumnî heş alîştîra-almadî:

olar úşún, tóbesíz úyúmnúñ

mayşîraklarîn sóndírgen

salkîn duwarlarî úşún

men bír yabanğî kalîrman

Solitude

 

I don’t seek the stone bowl

Buddha used while here:

She dwells on moon beams

 

I can see her smiling

with wind-chiseled breast

in sexless solitude

 

her light is not priced

but gifted to enlighten

the silver-linings

 

Ğañgîzlîk

 

Buda bo yaklarda ekende kullangan

taş sawutnuñ peşínde tuwulman:

o aynîñ nurlarînda yaşar

 

onîñ kúlúmsúremesín kóre-alaman

ğel ğontkan kókíregí men

21

 

ğínsiyetsíz ğañgîzlîgînda

onîñ ğarîgîñ kîymetí píşílmez

aydînlatuwğîdîr

kúmúş kaplamasî

Gleam of Light

 

Late August:

clouded midnight, sneezing

restless in bed

 

all negative vibes

well up the mind

 

jackals yell outside

I read Hsu Chicheng

for a gleam of light

 

Ğîltîrîm

 

Awustos soñî:

bulutlî keşe yarîsî, hapşıruwlar

tóşekte kiyípsízlík

 

bútún bolîmsîz sílkínúwler

akîlnî totîralar

 

tîşarda şógel-bóríler bakîrîşa

bír ğîltîrîm úşún

Kîsuw Çiy Çeñní okîyman

From the Window

 

Tall houses appear

to grow like trees from the plane

slowly rising high

 

people turn tiny

with cars water birds and beasts

in the summer flame

 

nervously worried

watch the moving mass of clouds

from the window

 

eternal patterns

nature’s wonder on the edge

a streak of orange

 

thousands of lights

twinkle in colors like stars—

seat belt fastened

 

Penğíreden

 

Yawaş-yawaş yúkselgen tayyareden

tereklíktiy ósíp ketken

ónder úyler kórínír

 

yaz álewúnde

maşinalar, kuşlar, haywanlar man

insanlar kíşkene kalîr

 

kaárete-kaárete

penğíreden

hareketlí bulut súrúwúne karap kalaman

 

soñsîz nakîşlar

zewuklî tuwa ğazibesí

portakal rengínde bír sîzîk

 

biñlerğe ğarîk

renklí- renklí yîldîzday ğalpîldar,

emniyet kemerím taguwlî

Who Cares?

 

Death hides in the body

but who sees? it’s obscure

 

living on the edge

seeking space into swamp

 

they all talk about the sun

swelling in the sky

 

and close eyes to the spider

spinning waves on the ceiling

 

all alone, but who cares?

suspicion and distance

 

like lovers they pretend

to leave, yet stay longer

 

dishing out luxuries

showing off generosity

 

on the heart’s fancy table

waiting to welcome the guest

 

Kím dert etsín?

 

Ólím kewdeníñ íşínde ğaşînîr

ama kím kórsín? íşí karañgî

 

yîkpalga asîlîp yaşamak

bataklîkta kurî ğer karamaktîr

 

herkez kókyúzúnde şíşíp kabargan

kúneşní lap etíp

 

tawanda egírílgen órímğek ğîlîmîñ dalgalarîna

 

kóz ğumar

ğap-ğañgîzlîk, ama kím dert etsín?

 

şúphe men mesafe

yáreler gibí ayîrîşkan kíşí bolîrlar

 

ama gene barabar kalîrlar

kaálbíñ húliyalî sîprasînda

 

sápír beklep turganda

artkan mollîk, ğumartlîk kósteríp

KNOT MAGAZINE

Ram Krishna Singh is a university professor whose main fields of interest consist of Indian English writing, especially poetry, and English for Specific Purposes, especially for science and technology. He was born on 31 December 1950 in Varanasi, India. Apart from a BA earned in 1970, he gained his MA in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University in 1972 and Ph D from Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, in 1981. He also obtained a Diploma in Russian in 1972. Dr Singh started his career in journalism, as a Compilation Officer in the District Gazetteers Department, Lucknow, 1973, and a Journalist with the Press Trust of India, New Delhi, 1973-74. Changing to teaching he became a Lecturer at the Royal Bhutan Polytechnic, Deothang, Bhutan, 1974-76. Joining the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad as a Lecturer from 1976-83, he then rose to Assistant Professor in 1983 and full  Professor and Head of the Institute’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences since 1993 to 2011. He is now Professor of English (HAG).

A reviewer, critic and contemporary poet who writes in Indian English, Dr. Singh is the author of more than 160 research articles and 175 book reviews. He has published 39 books, including:  Savitri : A Spiritual Epic (Criticism, 1984); My Silence (poems, 1985); Sound and Silence (edited articles on Krishna Srinivas, 1986); Indian English Writing : 1981-1985 : Experiments with Expression (ed., 1987, rept. 1991); Using English in Science and Technology (textbook, 1988, rev. and rept, 2000); Recent Indian English Poets : Expressions and Beliefs (ed. 1992); Two Poets: R.K. Singh (I DO NOT QUESTION) Ujjal Singh Bahri (THE GRAMMAR OF MY LIFE) (poems, 1994); General English Practice (textbook, 1995);Anger in Action : Explorations of Anger in Indian Writing in English (ed.,1997); My Silence and Other Selected Poems : 1974-1994 (poems, 1996); Above the Earth’s Green (poems, 1997); Psychic Knot : Search for Tolerance in Indian English Fiction (ed., 1998); New Zealand Literature : Some Recent Trends(ed.,1998); Every Stone Drop Pebble (haiku, 1999); Multiple-Choice General English for UPSC Competitive Exams (textbook, 2001); Cover to Cover (poems, 2002). Pacem in Terris ( haiku, English and Italian, 2003), Communication : Grammar and Composition ( textbook, 2003), Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri : Essays on Love, Life and Death ( Critical articles, 2005), Teaching English for Specific Purposes : An Evolving Experience ( Research articles and review essays, 2005), Voices of the Present: Critical Essays on Some Indian English Poets (2006), The River Returns (tanka and haiku collection, 2006),English as a Second Language: Experience into Essays (ed. research articles, 2007), English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected (ed. research articles, 2008), Sexless Solitude and Other Poems(2009), Mechanics of Research Writing (2010), Sense and Silence: Collected Poems (2010),  New and Selected Poems Tanka and Haiku (2012), and I Am No Jesus and Other Selected Poems, Tanka and Haiku (2014).

 

His works have been anthologized in about 160 publications, while his editorial activities extend to include guest-editing of Language Forum, 1986, 1995, and Creative Forum, 1991, 1997, 1998, besides being co-editor of the latter publication from 1987-90, General Editor of Creative Forum New Poets Series, and service on the editorial boards of Canopy, Indian Book Chronicle, Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Reflections, Titiksha, International Journal of Translation, Poetcrit, Impressions of Eternity (ie), and SlugFest. He has evaluated about 50 PhD theses from various universities. He has also edited the ISM Newsletter for about five years.

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