Only for you

Early morning my thoughts arise
Mingling you with the rhythm of my life
Every second of every minute
Till they fade into dreams late in the night.

Seasons changed, tears fell
I'm awaiting the dawn of a life
You smile into my soul
With sparkling eyes
And I'm learning to dream of pleasures unknown

Lost alone, I was searching in pain
For you to breathe life into me
I wonder how
God above
Made you just the way I wanted you to be.

With a single word
With a single smile
It's amazing how you bring wonders to my life
For you to find
Learn my side of the tale
Written only for you to read.

Sujeewa Tennakoon

God's gift to nature

Large trees give us ample shade;
To destroy them is a wanton disgrace.
I love to stand under one of them,
Cos', its fanning breeze gives me so much peace.

The weary traveller who rests awhile under a tree,
Would sometimes fall into deep slumber since there is tranquillity.

Have you not heard the twitter of little birds;
What sweet music they bring forth perched on trees.
Yonder down hill, I could see little children playing hide and seek;
Yes, it is once again behind the recluse of a large mara tree.

Be it rain or sun the mighty tree stands on and on;
Let us try to preserve Gods gift of nature for many years to come.

Yasmin Jaldin

A desperate thought

I go out in to the garden
And turn my head towards the sky.
My eyes fix upon the setting sun
The sky has turned to the colour of red.
The evening wind murmurs into my ear.
I sit under a tree and stare at the sky
Time passes on and I feel tired.
I close my eyes but my ears are open
The wind keeps on whispering - I do not hear.
The sun has set and the moon peers,
It emerges out of the dark clouds.
It smiles at me, I look back at it.
Now I hear the wind's murmur
What it says is, "Another day is gone."

Neerodha C. Edirisinghe

Pick of the week :

Thoughts of an old man

This culture of solitude
I'll forever leave behind
But will I once hear voices
Resonating in my mind

Will I for once see again
The faces of those I love
And my own in the mirror
And the tree, lark and dove

Would I read once more
All the stories that I told you
All those poems I prized
All the lessons to mould you

Will I once remember clearly
All the good old days
When I was young and loved
Had my say and ways

Will I once speak coherent
And express what I think
Will I once laugh heartily
And find the missing link

My eyes have given way
My strength has long gone
My mind fumbles and gropes
But my heart is still strong
Is it the faithful blue sky
With its never melting night
Which eternally shrouds me
But will I once see the light

Let me sing a song again
Let me see your face
Just once before I die
Let me live in grace

Arefa Tehsina

Unwanted

I ask you to be my friend,
but you neglect me.
I give you a smile,
but you refuse to respond.
I write letters to you
but you don't reply.

I come to see you,
but you do not welcome me.
I phone you,
but you pretend you don't know me.
One day I gave you a gift,
but you returned it to me.

I wait on the road for you,
but you avoid me.
To see you all the while,
I rented a room closer to your house,
but you moved away to another place.

Having seen you I have totally forgotten myself.
Yet you seem to be enjoying yourself alone
Henceforth am I to stop seeking you,
Since you do not notice my love!

Christina Lourdes

Peace

Light a
candle for 'Peace'
One for
the dead,
Remember!
Remember!
Somebody
once said.

The candle's flame
now slowly dies
and in its glow
I realise
They are at Peace -
They, who are dead.
The candle's glow
Warmed me - instead.

Rose Aserappa

The mirage that is myriads

When sudden gusts of wind come
Waves arise fast in the lake
Reflection of the moon in the sky
Scattered all over the surface

When the waves go somewhere else
Lake regains its calm and stillness
Reflect the moon in full and dazzle
On the surface of the lake with no defacement

When the mind is immersed in thoughts
Whether they are good or bad
Desire to neutralise the mind fails
Like the lake with rough waves

One cannot see what the truth is
In a true sense of a thing
Confused how to distinguish
The difference of the truth and myth

Waves do not come to the lake
From a source of an outside
They are made within itself
Like thoughts emerged in the mind

The world is very much strange
There exist thousands of reasons
For the people to be happy and joy
With palaces, wealth and comforts

Majority of people have no poise
Wrapped in pessimism and worries
Minds demand to do something arduous
As they are seekers of egotism.

They don't respond to nature
Pleasure and pain both for people
Otherwise they become like plants
But shall not run after illusion

One prefers to see delicacy of lotus
While another admires stones
You seek the pleasure of mundane or else
Depending upon whether you are a seeker or follower

Whether you see hundreds or thousands
Moons on the surface of lakes and ponds
That is the only moon of our world
Though surface of water reflects myriads.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

A funeral

It was the death
Of a much loved mama
Admired and respected
For his goodness and integrity
And the day of the funeral
Though full of sadness
Was also a day of reunion
For members of all our families
Who had gathered together From far and near.
For me
It was meeting all my cousins
About thirty in all
As their loku akkamost of us had not met
For years
nor had we any contact
But seeing one another
And talking to one another
Brought back memories
of by gone days....
It was heartening to see
My little "country cousins"
As I knew them long ago
Grown up
To become doctors and engineers
Executives and bank managers
Teachers and nurses
There was such friendliness
And adoration
In their faces
And very touching moments
when recounting old memories.
Death brings with it not only sadness
But much more..
A sense of togetherness
The renewal of old ties
The sharing of joys and sorrows
Of successes and failures.
So farewell dear mama
Though you are no more
You have brought us together
Closer and stronger.

Mallika Sirisuriya

Smile

Smile with others where ever you go
The only language human beings may know
Smile that blooms on faces like flowers
Bring back the memories of all happy hours
Smile that speaks even you are in sleep
Which vanishes the wounds that buried so deep
Smile that washes away the tears from your eye
Which makes you happy even you cry
Smile, the gift, God gave us to show his care
It costs you nothing freely you can share

Wathsala Rajasinghe

An apology to grandmother

Far away in a lonely land,
years and years ago...
you must have needed me...
when the shadows of death were peeping,
through the window.
devouring the last drop of your life...
you must have thought of me...
how you were beside me...
feeding and moulding me,
You must have been disappointed,
in my absence on that day,
that deadly day...
And here I am with a heavy heart,
about to burst into cries of apologies.
Forgive me if you can,
for not being able to see
your brown study....
with a heavenly smile
as you laid in peace in the casket,
forgive me if you can,
for not being able to hold your hand,
until your last breath....
Darling Aththammi,
you are my saviour...
who could ease the pain of guilt,
that stabs my lonely heart...

Manushi Atapattu

Singing crows

Crows come from everywhere,
By the score-seldom pair by pair.
Singing their awkward song,
"Caw, caw, caw," all along.
They sing even flying high,
Breaking the sweet silence in the sky.
It's again, "caw, caw", and "caw",
When they spot a refuse bin,
Swooping down, they make a maddening din.
The crows eagerly attack the bin
messing-up everything,
Afterwards, noisily singing "caw, caw, caw"
Boldly, to the next bin they take wing.

R.M. Downall