Sunshine After Rain: Poems

By Sagar Singh

Evoking both the exotic and the mundane, using images that reverberate in the mind, the author breathes life into short pieces, poems that leave behind an imprint. Writing poems since teenage years, this now-mature writer uses both traditional and modern forms, including impressionism and surrealism. This is meant to be your new companion of contemporary literature that you would want to keep by your bedside to read at leisure whenever the mood arises.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Nov 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482886948

Sagar Singh

The author, a social science researcher as well as editor, has published poems and short stories. Having won awards for his poems, he has experimented with many forms of verse, evident in Sunshine After Rain (2016), and this collection. His keen interest in music becomes plain in his sense of rhythm.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Sagar Singh.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-8695-5

                eBook            978-1-4828-8694-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Contents

Old Friends

Love of God

Blossoms in the Dust

The Last Touch: In Memoriam

Love is not Love

The Lost Word

The Nameless One

Goa in the Rains

Shadow Love

Spring

The Sleeper Awakens

The Forecast

Ice Cream

A Woman

The Brook

And in the End

A Few Grains of Sand

All is Well That Ends Well

Tribute to Jim Dornan

The Moment of Truth

Sunshine after Rain

Sunset

Knots

The Cat

I Stop Beside a House

Pondering Over a Cup of Tea

There Grew a Rose

Merry Christmas

Dead

The Truth Between Us

Remembering O’Toole

An Inadvertent Admission

Love Over Breakfast

A Pair of Blue Eyes

INRI: The Message

When Did the Laughter Die?

The Train

Not Miss, Nor Mrs

Blue Skies

Sea Shell

Alone

Warmth

Rain

Anxious

Heaven

Evelyn Waugh

Alzheimer’s

Rainbows

The Village

Parting

The Last Touch

The Bee

The Sea

Sitting By the Fireside

Beautiful Mornings

Waiting

Reading a Poem

Death of a Salesman

Cologne

Homeward Bound

Sunshine in my Arms

When the Hope Had Died

Hope and Love

Leaving

Hurt

Full Stop

Her Words

Age and Beauty

The Farm

Tea

Riverside

Dew

Clouds

Tobogganing

Thoroughly

Afterword

Another Afternoon Without You

Homecoming

Cold Morning

Autumn

The Humming Bird

In the Event

Waiting and Wanting

Not yet

Fresh

Becoming

The Window

An Idyllic in the Mountains

The Laughter of Years

Faith, Hope and Love

Arguing

Absolutely

Carl Sagan

Home

Asking (If That Will Do)

Downtown in New Mexico

A Country Pub

Fog

The Last Word

Rainy Days

Love Denied

Later

Dreams of Summer

Morning

Once

Considering Love

Afterthought

Home, Sweet Home

Here to Stay

Wanting

Strangely

Evening

Amnesty

Aptly

Why Skylarks Cry

Waterloo

Empty

Mountain View

Street Corner

Afternoons

Autumn

Economical

Thin Line

Obituary

Exuberance

Abstract

Street Scene

Absently

Avalanche

Age and Youth

The Sunbird

(K)nots

Crow

Twig

Peak

Indian Bride

Eagle

The Board

Mountainscape

Avery

Abe

October

Obsolescence

Fog

Entomology

April

Honestly

Remembering

Teasing Eliot

Sunny Days

Mourning

The Beach

A B Abercrombie

Nash

Sunset at Sea

Values

Desire

Homage to Emily Dickinson

Wedding

Woman

After the Wedding

After the Fall

Close

Laxman: A Covenant with Truth

Winter

Roses

Obviously

Reverie on a Fitful Evening

Bleak Houses

Plum Job

Hello

The Party

Time

Chocolate

Youth and Age

The Evening of Years

Elliptical

Girl at the Bus Stop

After the Funeral

Older (a prose poem)

A Rainy Monday in London

Leningrad Park

Reminiscences

To Emily

After the Credits

MacLean

Morning of a Poem

House on Fire

A Drizzly Day in March

Performing Flea

Avuncular

Mademoiselle

Flying Kites

Condolence (After an Indian Funeral)

Laundry

New Habit

Mother’s Day

Ape

Canoe in Sunlight

Remembering Halloween

Lights Out

Miss Anastavapopoulous

Matterhorn

Shooting Star

When Freedom Wasn’t Another Word

Parisien Coffee Houses

Toffee

Sunflower Fields

Ivy

Star

Intimations of Tomorrow

The Secret Never Shared

Return of Ulysses

After the Event

The Aftermath

Leaves

The Train To Goa

Sunlight in the Window

City Lights

The Lost Art of Hospitality

The Old Man and the Sea

The Perfect Moment

The Duke of Gloom

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Vertigo

Avalanche

The Big Apple

In an Instant

Voluptuous

Croton

Hysteria

Bookends Theme

Ship

The Looking Glass

Rhododendron

Tea Time

Eavesdropping

Fashion

Lake Erie

Womanhood of the Poem

Water Melon

Wine Makers

Mirror

Blowing With the Wind

Irate

Hurry

The Mill and the Moon

Little Blacking

Sherbet

Still Picture

Kiev

Silver

Rain

Fatty’s Poem

Appalachians

An Error of Commission

Shadows and Stripes

The Prince of Wales Zoological Garden

The Truth

A Note to a New Couple

Great Expectations

After Effects

Complex

Out of the Old Bailey

A Peep Behind the Curtains

A Tale of Two Cities

Murders Most Foul

Antlers

Youth and Age Revisited

E coli

Home

Lotus

At the Railway Station

Memories of Childhood

Girl Bride

Silence

Poised

Clouds

Similitude

Sunset in a Boulevard

Orb

Lizard

Stamp

The Empty Bower

Typo!

Match

Literature

When the Nightingale Never Sings

Stones

Simmering

Artistic

After the Dream

Clumsy

Eight

Line

Gable

People on a Cloudy Day

Aspirin

Coin

Aged

A Woman to Another

Late

Promiscuous

Faith

Centrifugal

Easy

The Rose

Reading

Flake

Bus

Quietness

The Interview

That Wayward Look

Looking

Painting in Blues and Greens

Teacher

Calling

The Rock

River and Shadows

Absent in the Spring

Curtain

Obit

End of Remorse

Washed Out

The Easel and the Brush

Cake

RSVP

Smoke

Friends

Twist

Silence

Stillness

Boyhood

Distance

Feeling Blue

Escarpment

Face

Eyes

Breakfast

Love

Icicle

The Bird

Flights of Fancy

Puppet

The Summing Up

Dues

The Hunt

Flight

The Restaurant Next Door

Evening in Water Colours

Music

Crab

Mountain Slope

The Upshot

Creativity

Penrose

The Caring Eye: Tribute

A Portrait of the Artist

Clarity

Light

Otter in Sunlight

The Captive and the Free

Space

Unforgettable

Autograph

The Coming of Winter

Sunlight in Mountains

Peas

Star Gazing

Cappuccino

Airport

Sociological

Closing Shop

Sailing

Eagle and Ship

RIP

R.I.P.

The Hour

Pine Trees

Kingfisher

Lamppost

Grey

To a Nightingale

Parting

The Reunion

Algorithm

Windmill

Monal

Paid for in Full

Lozenge

Truffle

Monsoon

Pebbles

Coat

The Last Shore

Skates

Comic

The Joker

Nameless

Asuncion

Jasmine

Rainy Days

If

Faith

Planting

Shadows

New York

Sentence

Rain

The Local Confectionery Shop

Football

Archer

Q & A

Pearl

Pink

St Francis

Straight

Osteoporosis

Amadeus

Night in London

In Clover

Arrested Development

Cotton Candy

Picture This

Abnormal

Archibald

The Sea

Aperture

Leap

Nothing

Everywhere

Agricultural

Recess

Compound

Avenue One

Kindergarten

Sequoia

Over

A July Day

Distemper

Leaving

Abstention

Goodbye

Hello

Selfie

Gently

Sorority

Dry Cleaners

Puzzle

Espresso

Blue Eyes

The Beach

Birds

Sketch

Sobriquet

Calling

Aldestrop

Curfew

Savage

Scalding

Absolution

Sandusky

Overwhelmed

Ricochet

Azerbaijan

Blue Hills

Cape Verde

Anti-Matter

Autumn

Shangri La

Amanda

Beige

Lisa

Aspen

Cert

People on Weekends

Star

Adipose

Skinny

Ad

Extra

Accounting

Rhapsody in Blue

Silk

Always

Asking

A Poem

Words

Planet

Untitled

Easy

Wilderness

Ship

Sunny

Faces

Elderly Couple

Question

Canary Wharf

Internet

Blue Stocking

Flowers

Turbo

Aftermath

Advice

Cancun

Alibi

Advert

Umberto Eco

Tea for 2

The Call of the Muezzin

Curtain

Maze

Beautiful Noise

Lost Cause

Absent in the Spring

Fascination

Derrida

Silhouettes

Piggy

Satchel

The Steal

Istanbul

Dewey

Summer Holiday

Uber Alles

e.e. cummings

Insurance

Boundaries

Manual

Parallax

Umbra and Penumbra

Bus

Opprobrium

Oberammergau

Casual

Post

Solutions

Silence

Leader

Smile

Fashion

Faces

In Retrospect

Note

Rust

Dessert

Lost

Painting on Christmas

Whose Woods Are These…

The Cart

A Dying Art

Opportunity

Call

Kiwis

Water

Comic Book

Aware

Ode to a Grecian Urn

Actress

The Wayward Bus

Naturally

Sea Spray

Freedom

Idea

Old

Corporate

Light and Dark

Rapids

Wanted

Echo

Hip

Air

Time

Understanding

The Lost Butterfly

Remembering Ali

Atavistic

Patch

Mountain Pass

After the Rains

Solitude

Travelling Around the World

Faces

Reminiscing

Anglo

Comfortable Sounds

In Fine

Untitled

Solzhenitsyn

Orientation

Memories

Tempest

Goodnight

A Shaft of Light

The Book

Farewell

Ice-Cream

That’s All

Round

Poster

Ex

Claustrophobia

A Poem is a Thing

Close

What is a Poem?

The Pupil

Cosmos

Lunch

Supper

Dinner

Jail

If We Could Sense a Day

Emptiness

Shooting Star

Waiting for the Bus

Reaping

Incomplete

A Matter of Priorities

The Mills

Cross

10

Unsaid

Adieu

Sunday

Opulence

The Echoes of Laughter

Where Shall We Go This Summer?

Vincent

Art

Flowers

Nameless

Star

Photo

Eyes

Laughter

Still

Stumps

Editorial

Wish

Empty Meeting Grounds

Space

Windows

Lost Time

To Read a Silence

Wystan

Hysteria

Pearl

Sad

Ease

I

Dusk

Raindrops

Crochet

Dice

Epitaph

When Time Stopped

Time Has a Habit

Rambling Rose

Mushroom

Egg

The Wall

Poor

Gene Wilder

Tremors

The Call of a Bird

Blue Pencil

Tear

Grin

Lips

Rainy

Homework

Carolyn

Blue Eyes

Roses

Mums

Universal

Preface

I began writing poems when I was in school, and carried on while at the University of Lucknow, and was fortunate enough to win many awards for creative writing in English at the all-India university level. A poet-friend-mentor then went through some of the poems that I wrote in the late 1980s and insisted that it was not worthwhile if the images in a poem do not match. I then read a poem where Archibald Macleish says, ‘A poem should not mean, but be.’ Very recently, in 2016, I met my friend-mentor at a reunion after 30 years and he managed to sneak in a comment, ‘I do not have an idea how you did it, but now you look like a poet.’ Emphasis on ‘look’. Another friend, also recently, remarked on how in an anthology poems must ‘dovetail’. How one proceeds to make 600-odd poems, as presented here, dovetail is for anybody to think through.

These poems are the result of six-seven years of effort and are of varied nature. Some have a structure that is traditional…or I should add, many of them. Some are contemporary, if not modern. Some have been variously inspired by poets such as William B. Yeats, Wystan Auden, Robert Frost, e e cummings, Gerard Manley Hopkins,… even Enid Blyton, whose famous character, ‘Fatty’, can recite invented poetry at the drop of a hat! But most of all I must say that these poems are images: clean, keen and evocative of moods and mental states, and express all the emotions one can think of, except hate.

So read on, dear reader, and pick up the book whenever you feel like reading poetry. You may find a poem that chooses you just at that moment, to make you think like all poetry should, ‘But this is the way I think, too!’ Happy reading!

Sagar Singh

November 2016

Old Friends

When was the last time

I listened to those whose time

has come and speak in tongues

crackling with age

like a montage

of withering flowers; when young

as full of life as bright red wine?

In youth and age

we dream dreams that foretell

that Life’s a stage

relinquished like fell

trees in a desert dawn:

wishes from Heaven drawn,

sought after like a will o’ the wisp

(like children, old people lisp

if only words come out of their lips).

But their fire is not out yet

the past to them seems bright

like a fiery sunset

against a darkening sky that might

make their memories more than a silhouette;

one life like many lives, to let

the dawn see the darkness in another light.

Love of God

I was the sky and the wind and the rain

I was the tears that didn’t leave a stain

I was the pleasure in the hurtless pain…

Blossoms in the Dust

Petals fall

in the waters of time

as if keeping time

to a song unsung

that gathers dust

in a labyrinthine mind

and memories encrust

the spent longings

of an unknown lover

and hover over the mind

like an end-all.

How should we sing

that song unbegun

how should we begin

to gather all that wasted time

how should we unwind

those love strains that bind

stanzas that lie and rust:

ashes to ashes

and dust to dust –

blossoms in the dust.

The Last Touch: In Memoriam

A little wooden cottage

Like a picture that doesn’t age

With a sad cypress grown over;

The sun’s rays slanting over

Thatched roofs with golden rooftops

And the scent of ripe, wild apricots

And sweet apples, wafting over the glens;

Something transgressing