In his third collection of poems, Ode to a Grieving Angel, poet Naveen Kishore returns as a theatre-lighting designer, his poems a witness to the artistic process.

The first section, also the longest, unfurls on the stage with the poet witnessing the play of light and shadow from the wings. Like the actors, the reader too is caught in the “glare of spotlights” while Shakespeare’s iconic plays are performed in a rather grotesque manner. The darkness of the shadows is juxtaposed with a “barren” stage and colourless trees, the actors a zombie version of themselves. Characters from Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear find themselves together on the same stage, jostling for space, tripping over wires, and burning in fading light. The audience has disappeared into the dark and the actors are a heap of anxiety and confusion. For Kishore, Shakespeare’s heroes and heroines are pitiful – with a limited vocabulary and appearances, they are doomed to repeat their fates over and over again. Unlike the audience, they may not exit into the light. Not yet. The stage, despite its careful choreography, is a purgatory of suffering.

In his previous book of poems, Kishore had a title for each section. However, in Ode to a Grieving Angel, the sections are plainly...

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