The Smiling Rose- Selected Poems

Bijay Kishore Sundar Ray was born on 1st June, 1949 and belongs to Bhubaneswar. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 and retired in the rank of Chief Secretary to the Government of Chhattisgarh. In his "The Smiling Rose", B.K.S. Ray reveals the feelings of his inner world as a poet. He refers to human existence in terms of love, relationship, hope optimism, despair, a longing for humanity and a blistering attack on terror, violence, commercialism and hypocrisy. A quest for justice and human solidarity amid a suffering world is distinctly visible in his poetry-writing style. For Ray, poetry is a movement for truth and beauty constant struggle against injustice! "As a writer, I'm unstoppable", writes Ray. Poetry for him is a liberating experience. He has been influenced by the poetry of D.H. Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Andrew Motion and W.H. Auden. "Human existence is more beautiful when poetry goes in to it", writes Ray. An author of 37 books, B.K.S.Ray continues to write with a single-minded devotion to strengthen and consolidate his creative journey. Ray lives in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) where he intends to pursue his scholastic and literary activities.

"I'm obsessed with poetry", I told one of my close friends "and the hunger for poetry remains unabated". To speak the truth, it was a revelation of my poetry-loving despair that has become an integral part of my existence. My love for poetry has brought me joy amid a suffering world! Poetry is the fallout of a dynamic imagination that brings about a lyrical charm. Every word stirs up your blood and pushes you towards a new world where you fly with freedom. And to me, writing poetry is a unique experience, a self exploration and a voyage to touch a beautiful world. "You come flying, alone, in your solitude, alone with the lead, alone in eternity, shadowless, nameless, you come flying", wrote the world famous poet Pablo Neruda. Here, poetry is a flow of freedom, a flow of music amid solitude! In my poetry collection "The Smiling Rose", I've revealed myself to my readers in terms of love, relationship, loneliness, despair, a longing for humanity and of course a relentless attack on injustice, terror, commercialism and hypocrisy. In many of my poems, my longing for a world free from terror and violence is obvious. Of course, many of my poems are autobiographical in nature. "The Smiling Rose", the title poem reveals optimism and I hope, all my readers will hail a world full of love and warm feelings. I take this opportunity to thank all my friends and lovers of poetry who inspire me to write relentlessly. I hope, my poetry collection "The Smiling Rose", receives their appreciation.

**Contents and Sample Pages**