KNOT Magazine
Fall Issue 2022
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
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.