Andrew Parking

Satish Verma's collection is again handsomely produced by ARAWLII publications and comprises two sections of peoms as indicated by the two parts of the title. Satish Verma is a mature poet, commanding the sudden surprise of the image in all its rightness and presence: "The traffic of private tears/will begin to move" or "Deep in my throat/a cuckoo sings for a queen of darkness,/ to invite the mists and clouds." He is a master of the complex feeling made manifest, suddenly there, always luring the reader into complicity with his moods and thoughts. This is the poetry of lived life. There is no fine style for the sake of fine style. His poems "Rear Mirror", "Listen", and "Slanting Truth", just to take three examples from a rich book, are poems one would not want to be without.