FOREWORD TO PATHLESS WOODS by Dr. J. S. Anand

 FOREWORD TO PATHLESS WOODS 

By Dr. J. S. Anand

M. A. Rathore is a growing voice gaining intensity with every flick of the pen. When I met him around two years back on Facebook, I found him writing a lot of haiku poetry. He said it is my dream to be a poet. It seems the river of consciousness flowing below our conscious actions has taken his resolve seriously.

Pathless Woods is his first work of poetry, in which he has expressed himself admirably. The poems are well crafted and matured in meaning and treatment to leave a soulful message behind. The way he wields his pen sometimes shows his extra carefulness. The easy flow of poetry like a rivulet is still waiting, but his control and his versatility are enough to prophesize a rich feast of poetic harvest in the coming days.

I congratulate Rathore on the publication of his work which brings out the various concerns that bind him to this earth. Certainly, he is not an escapist, although he romances endlessly.

"Man lives in dreams 

Fostering his arguments 

Not accepting the reality 

That has ever been there" 

[Remove the Veil]

In "Mystery of Not Being", one can find him decoding death in a very temperate language, no less persuasive:

"Imagine you're being deprived of 

Your sources of mind and knowledge 

Obliterating the whole being with a bang 

Made passive altogether as if your body 

Has no longer in the entire person"

What has highly impressed me is his growth into a visionary. The instant is not in his passion. The immediate is not what matters to him. It is the ultimate; the larger context of reality, which gives him meaning. 

In "what am I?" he very clearly shows how a leaf is related to the tree and a wave to the ocean;

"I am a leaf 

The huge tree 

Standing stately 

From olden times

I am a wave

The unfathomed ocean 

While retreating

Having touched the shore"

Amid deeply embedded in poetic creed often starts dabbling with philosophy. And there we find Rathore discussing the ultimate questions of existence:

"What is my destination?

A rotten grave 

or a constant journey 

Not knowing where I come from 

And where to go at last"

The poem I find in this collection is "Freedom" which reflects on the human condition as a songbird caged in a golden prison:

"I am a singing bird

Caught by the royal courtiers

Flying through their provincial states 

Accusing me of my limitless fly

I am a singing bird

Put behind the golden bars 

Accusing of my truthful songs 

And a hilarious yearning to live free"

The poet expresses prophetically

"In case truth prevails with worthy crown 

All the wrong will be made to be guillotined 

Whoever talked about the truth then?

For I am a bird singing victorious songs"

Rathore's narrative in "Broken Beauty" turns him into an insightful postmodernist:

“Chilly summer nights 

Drifting droplets like 

A lovely shower

Life being treated 

A game of cards 

Looking back I smiled 

Over broken beauty” 

In all, I have no hesitation in asserting that Rathore, the poet, has arrived; Let us attune our ears to listen to his prophetic verses.

- Dr. J.S. ANAND 

COPYRIGHT 2015

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