|| Features

dailynews
ONLINE

My beauty

When the sun rays embraced the morning dew
I derived much pleasure out of it.
That was in my prime of life
Lived without a wife.
Now I see the beauty of her:
I love to see her in the morning.
I love to see her in the evening.
But, the morning dew is only at dawn
When I am walking along the lawn
And they are perished by the sunbeams
Her beauty would never perish
As long as I live and cherish.

Warapalane Jayawardhana

He comes on the dot

He comes on the first
He comes on the second
Or the third every month
Without fail on the dot

He comes in heat trousers
Which is old but ironed
But the powder on his face
Hasn't erased the wrinkles of want

He comes with a tale of woe
Which has happened to his family
or a bundle of expectations
Which he nurtures for tomorrow

His wife has been sent to Angoda
And the landlord has threatened him
His only son has written a short story
Which the editor has promised to publish

He has worked as an insurance agent
Which did earn a living commission
Inflation and debility dwindled his income
And he thinks of helping hands

He thinks that I am salaried rich
And must help the friendly poor
Dole that I give him month after month
Is mere routine and brings no instant happiness

J. Rajasuriya

The enlightenment

The sky is grey
So is the sea
and even the landscape
thru' the little gap
in the skies he seeps down
The sun
sending shimmers of golden silver
as the waters
Its been that for ages
The sand picks part of the seashore
and glimmers
So do the goldfish and the swordfish
also the little shells and pearls
sitting on the shore
oh man! open up your window of heart
and let the gold and silver pour in
that's what it's all about
the enlightenment!

Pramod Beri

Equality

No more gender discrimination
Transported in trucks, but not in horse carts
Women are working on roads,
In luminous colour robes.

Women are clearing the road sides,
Women are unloading sand at sites,
Women are tarring the highways
Eight hour work on weekdays,
Equality in work, well it says,
Are they really equally paid?
Cleaning and washing, shopping or cooking
The household chore, it's a bore,
How unfair, why, men won't do so
A housewife afterall not paid for
To earn some living has yet she gone
From road to home, work still goes on.

Amitta Munasinghe

Obscure bond

Rain falls in drizzles
Tree and bushes are in pride
Grass pins come straight
As if they are re-born

Birds summon the fledgings
To rush back to their nests
Sound of the chirping
Denotes that they are insatiable

Full fledged ones go there
Matured fruits in pecks
Pledging their true bonds
Feeding them into the mouths

Take them to their nests
Before rains come in full fury
The hustle bustle around them
Not known to the half fledgings

Unity and affinity
Penance of joy
In the world of birds
Go into raptures

No cudgels and bludgeons
Rag-tag and bobtails
Or barons and peers
Unlike our world

The quality they display
Is much above of human being
Equality and sanctity
A lesson for humanity

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

There's no one but "you"

I feel you in every breath of mine.
My life is hidden under your shadow.
I pray to be there as long as I live
'coz your soul in me is too deep

I light the candles of love at your feet
I see you in everywhere, in everything I see
My lips chant no name but yours
Let my heart be filled with nothing but your love.

I'm screaming your name but you'll never hear
My heart is empty but you'll never know
It's so hard to mend my broken heart but you'll never feel
The mist is drifting across the hills but you'll never see
But we shall never be apart through smiles or through tears.

Though four years have passed
I still think that it must be a dream
I think that you in me is here somewhere
'Coz its all your boons whether smiles or tears

Father you mean so much to me
You guide me but let me go my way
You never have been so close to me
But you show me your love is always close to me

Now you have gone and will never come back
To fill your own place
Have gone to a wonderful new world of eternal joy
Away from a cruel world

The memories of you is still remain
Shall never be blown away by the wind
Years may pass and time may fly
But your loving and beautiful memories
Shall linger in our hearts always and forever.

Suneetha Abeywardena

Failure is not a full stop

Burnt the midnight oil, with hope of success
Which dashed by results and failure embraces
Face the misfortune with all your heart
Failures are the pillars of success, you note.

Failure is not a full stop
That's the achiever's starting step
Try again, take great care and study
Success sure, be steady and ready.

Defeat and failure make one weaker
Determination and strive make all stronger
Achieved many, greatness after losses
History highlights such great bosses.

Conceived hopes would get aborted
Trace the cause and it gets defeated
Common in life, losses and gains
Revolves around pleasures and pains.

K.K. Arumainayagam

She flows in grace...

She flows in grace
In a rhythmic pace
Like a dancing broad lace
Adding a little bit of a haste..

Sun rays fall on her with might
They give her a marvellous sight
Tiniest ripples that glisten at night
Remind me of the fallen stars bright..

Overlooked by the Kalutara Bodhi premises where devotees their
respects pay
Regular beating of the temple drums she hears everyday
Followed by the sermons that bring blessings in everyway
Make the entire town blessed so the town folks say..

River Kalu (Kalu Ganga) one of the islands' rivers main
Meets the ocean ending her long journey despite winds and rain
Throughout this voyage she must've undergone such a lot of pain
It's a lesson for all of us, to glide along until our target we gain.

Referred to in River Kalu (Kalu Ganga)

Vishaka Senadhira

On the premature birth of a grandchild

You had yet two months,
in the mother's cosy womb
yet you close the world outside;
were you impatient,
to come and stake your claim
and did you opt
to join the rat-race early?
Or is it to rebel and cry
for peace, justice and equality?
We, our generation has stumbled
miserably failing,
only wallowing in the quagmire
of injustice and corruption
blindly following unfeelingly,
floating in this sea of muck.
to our selfish gloating
goals- mirage
yet take heart;
Nature in the face of all onslaughts
is fair and just.
Follow it and learn,
to live in harmony with it,
to give and take
Only your fair share.

A.G. Abeysinghe

Give peace a chance

Those were the years when life was so peaceful in the North and
East,
Happy and content people mingled and travelled - fear was the least.
Far out in the distant hills silence prevailed everywhere,
Deep down in the valleys sound of flowing waters filled the air.

With pots balanced on their heads, village women walked for miles
To fetch water for household chores, they sure did sweat and toil.
School children hurried off to school, knowledge and discipline,
their greatest aim,
Mathematics and Science they did excel, great scholars they became.

Birds and animals, once a treasure, flew and roamed freely,
Lush vegetation, fresh fruits and fish were in plenty,
Farming and cottage industries, the peoples precious livelihood,
The fertile soil for rice cultivation was definitely very good!!

When out from the blues, the peace and silence was shattered,
Frightened masses ran helter skelter, their homes - torn and tattered.
The hungry cry of an infant could be heard looking for its mother to
be fed,
But the bullet riddled body lay some distance away stone cold and
dead.

Sirens and gunfire, signals of war, vengeance and hate,
Sad and desperate, people cling to their lives with disgust and
distaste.
Prices of commodities rising at a rate!,
Innocent people swear and sigh - is this their destined fate?

Precious water - Sri Lanka's natural resource,
Is now a scarcity in the North and East of course.
Why Oh why cannot we understand,
That Peace is our only hope for this beloved land,

To put down our vengeance and stretch out our hands,
Love and forgiveness, let us give our Motherland,
Peace Talks, please resume and iron out your differences,
Remember, we're one of the same human race!

Sri Lankans look for hope and light at the end of a dark tunnel!
With kindness and understanding to be sincere and natural.
To the world let us prove Peace is our only choice,
Beloved Sri Lanka, let us unite, together let us pray in one voice!

Antonette De Cruze