Kala Ramesh is a performing vocalist in Indian Classical music. Coming from an extremely artistic and culturally rich South Indian family, Kala believes -- as her father is fond of saying -- that "the soil has to be fertile for the plant to bloom" and feels that she owes this poetic streak in her to her mother. A proud mother of two young adults, Kala lives with her husband in Pune, India.
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25 thoughts on “”
Kala, simply grand!
Such plausible Interpretations here, and mine… a stage of life.
stumble over stumble’s steps
the startled rabbit’s muse
_M
Kala . . . beautiful ! So visual and “feely” The world is rushing by and the wind is pinking my cheeks. I am “full ahead and out of control” in such a lovely way. Judith
Beautiful one, but mine is more concrete? It’s what I experienced while coming down the hill
Shoved off the stairs–
falling
I become a rainbow
This is more poetic I guess, but lovely all the same!!
That word “falling” joins the two poems in the reader’s mind!!!
It’s a mystery how haiku works in our minds!!
kala, your words ring true; albeit most ignore, or never get to experience the mystic in life, preferring, though for some reason deferring comes to mind, to accept only the tangible world. times the question i ask, how many others share our thoughts though there’s no communication to speak of…
those professing zen should completely understand; yet, in their haste, fall short of an accusation!
I agree with you totally here!And you’ve expressed the intangible so well…the mind is too powerful and we hardly use a fraction of it, the experts say!
The psyche, the essential nature of man is far too elusive to pin it down to something concrete, but still man tries his best to get into a cage, a prison with higher and higher walls!
alan, a translation used different words than the author. attempts to state the author’s exact thoughts, too often leads to errors. ex., author’s usage of idioms or compressed thoughts into a single word. does this justify expansion for clear understanding. today’s stress on sentence sequential logic leaves us flailing; which isn’t solved by learning the language-
epiphany
my autumn
sunrise
You write:
“Yours is both concrete, literal yet lyrical, quite a feat in such a small poem as a haiku. ;-)”
Thanks a ton!
Bob, Once again agree with you, that an effective translation is a transcreation, and go more by the feelings of the poem than by actual words, and with haiku being such a compressed art form, I guess it’s not easy to do full justice while translating?
Kala, simply grand!
Such plausible Interpretations here, and mine… a stage of life.
stumble over stumble’s steps
the startled rabbit’s muse
_M
dark sky . . .
flashes of orange
in a paper lantern
Beautiful. It’s a ku with a shutter speed eye that captured the moment of Kala’s autumn sky.
autumn sky . . .
between licks
he wags me a whiff of skunk
Magyar!
I look forward to your comments!
And I love your two liner
Mike your paper lantern is lovely!
Thanks for passing by…
Don,
I was touched by your comment…a very unusual one!!
Thanks a ton.
Mike?
I got your whiff again!
Thanks
warmly,
_kala
Great. captures the quality of many childhood dreams.
This one was just delightful. It has the very free feeling of something a child might write.
There are so many different ways to ‘read’ it. Is it a literal fall or a metaphorical fall, for example.
Kala,
I remember this one. So great to read it again here. I agree with the above comment by gK. Good one!
Collin
gK – you are most generous.
Thank you so much.
Collin,
Thanks for your response.
I feel good!
_kala
Kala . . . beautiful ! So visual and “feely” The world is rushing by and the wind is pinking my cheeks. I am “full ahead and out of control” in such a lovely way. Judith
Yes, this one’s a beauty, Kala…
congratulations, again!
;)
Lary
Hi Judith,
Your prose is more poetic than my haiku!
Thanks so much for this enthusiastic comment.
I loved every word…
Lary,
Thanks so much. I value your comments and they mean a lot to me.
warmly,
_kala
Kala,
I feel this one in my stomach. Well done!
Josh
first frost
uphill struggle–
comes indian summer
Gorgeous. A hint of Ban’ya there I think? ;-)
Thanks Josh!
I like your observation of feeling it in your stomach!
Bob,
Thanks a ton!
Alan,
I’m happy you liked it!
Well. Curiosity got the better of me, I went online and read Ban’ya!!!
Can’t say I agree with your observation tho’??!!
_kala
autumn breeze . . .
goslings run spread-eagled
toward the pond
Dirk
Thank you so much.
autumn breeze . . .
goslings run spread-eagled
toward the pond
Beautiful Mike.
What imagery.
_kala
Hi Kala,
For some reason it reminded me of one of his haiku, which I’ve tracked down. ;-)
Shoved off the stairs–
falling
I become a rainbow
Thanks Alan!
Beautiful one, but mine is more concrete? It’s what I experienced while coming down the hill
Shoved off the stairs–
falling
I become a rainbow
This is more poetic I guess, but lovely all the same!!
That word “falling” joins the two poems in the reader’s mind!!!
It’s a mystery how haiku works in our minds!!
_kala
kala, your words ring true; albeit most ignore, or never get to experience the mystic in life, preferring, though for some reason deferring comes to mind, to accept only the tangible world. times the question i ask, how many others share our thoughts though there’s no communication to speak of…
those professing zen should completely understand; yet, in their haste, fall short of an accusation!
It’s the falling aspect I like.
Your’s is both concrete, literal yet lyrical, quite a feat in such a small poem as a haiku. ;-)
Ban’ya’s haiku would be better read in the original Japanese, yet I like the translation version.
The rainbow could be both literal (bundle/rainbow of clothes) and lyrical.
I’d love to see them both in an anthology!
Bob,
I agree with you totally here!And you’ve expressed the intangible so well…the mind is too powerful and we hardly use a fraction of it, the experts say!
The psyche, the essential nature of man is far too elusive to pin it down to something concrete, but still man tries his best to get into a cage, a prison with higher and higher walls!
If only we learn to let go naturally… ha!
alan, a translation used different words than the author. attempts to state the author’s exact thoughts, too often leads to errors. ex., author’s usage of idioms or compressed thoughts into a single word. does this justify expansion for clear understanding. today’s stress on sentence sequential logic leaves us flailing; which isn’t solved by learning the language-
epiphany
my autumn
sunrise
Hi Alan,
You write:
“Yours is both concrete, literal yet lyrical, quite a feat in such a small poem as a haiku. ;-)”
Thanks a ton!
Bob, Once again agree with you, that an effective translation is a transcreation, and go more by the feelings of the poem than by actual words, and with haiku being such a compressed art form, I guess it’s not easy to do full justice while translating?