No Season for Grief (Poems)

The poems here touch upon a wide range of themes, from secular to religious, mundane to mystical. The poet, widely travelled, celebrates the beauty of both Indian (“To Gangtok”) and American landscapes (“The Moon over the Prairie,” “Rock Cut Park, Illinois”). Such varied scenes stir memories, create resonances (“On Havelock Island”). Seasons often mesh with the moods of protagonists (“Vrindavan”), but there are dissonances as well, suggesting that Nature and Man might sometimes work at cross-purposes (“The Rain”). Ironies, disruptions abound, for life is often a cheat. Man has no choice then, but to develop strategies for survival in an enigmatic universe. And the poet, always resourceful and resilient, manages still to find moments of truth and beauty in our brief and fleeting human existence (“Summerwards,” “After the Frosts”). Hence, while acknowledging the areas of darkness in human experience, the final note is one of affirmation (“The River”, “The City Sleeps”).