Take a little trouble
Take a little trouble your life to mould
that'll make you worth your weight in gold.
Take a little trouble to great heights rise
try hard and persevere for that'll be wise.
Take a little trouble your weak points to find
correct them and go ahead with a steady mind.
Take a little trouble to respect others
be they parents, teachers, friends or elders.
Take a little trouble to be honest ever
or else happiness of life you'll find never.
Take a little trouble to treat all with kindness
for there be many drowning in the sea of sadness.
Take a little trouble to pity the penniless
who in this world are completely friendless.
Take a little trouble to lend a helping hand
such acts of mercy are no doubt grand.
Take a little trouble to lead a life serene
armed with qualities that make a human being.
Take a little trouble and remember it well
never to add fuel to another man's hell.
L. E. C. Salgado
----
A moment in time
Live, laugh and feel in the moment
Get caught up and lost in the moment,
For if you don't you might miss that special Moment.
Life has made us all millionairesses by providing us
With a million moments. Not all have to count but even a
handful of breathless moments can equate to a life time
Of treasured memories.
Some get stuck in the moment, others live and search for the moment.
A moment is a time, an occasion, a spark, an emotion or a feeling.
Moments can make you laugh and moments can make you cry.
A moment can last a second but live on for a life time,
Moments can last a life time and be forgotten in a second.
If you really want to feel and truly want to love cherish every moment
and make the
Special ones count!
Damien Solamans Mu
-----
Modernity
Modern man is suffering from his modernity
Plastic-days, sky, air, water, earth
And man is polluted - where is the sanctity of nature?
Hollow days of vulgar consumption
Dry-as-dust.
Bad taster unethical
I - Thou relationships of yore,
Have become soulless I - It
My friends are no more - nostalgia
Now they are my rivals - competitors insane runners
They are on the run
They don't know where they are running - to what end!
God knows?
Meet them at the super markets
Buying visually beautiful polythene packed goods and foods
'Possessive happiness'
Greed or need?
MacDonalisation of food, water and life
No more neighbourliness
No azure skies trembling dews on loveliest flower petals
No sweet melodies of birds
I see blood sucking murmuring mosquitoes invading in
their hundreds
Victorious hephestus! - God of Greek technology,
said to be a limping God
So is our technology!
Sleek limousines jamming traffic
Foreign exchange for fuel is no fun!
"Wealth without work is sin"
Technology has enslaved us
Age of the one - dimensional man has dawned
A new world - view - weltanschauung
Diabetically goaled sedentary lives
Caged neurotic personalities of our times
Psycho - somatic inflation
Conflicts within and without
Oh God!
Save me from this Modernity!
CK
----
Lost footpaths
In the sleeping city of Galle,
Our land of birth, weaning and growth,
After five and half decades,
Our footpaths now lost.
Kandawatte road of Minuwangoda,
Our playing field,
With an occasional buggy, rickshaw or cycle,
my friend Divina seated in the verandah,
through the lettice enjoying our games,
now submerged in petrol fumes,
the old lamp post still remember our days.
Beyond Wakwella beyond the Gin Ganga,
Footpaths linked Baddegama,
through miles and miles of paddy fields,
with ears of paddy lilting their ears of paddy,
the pristine glory now lost forever,
Old-time foot paths now lost forever,
hands of men spoiled,
our land of pristine beauty,
tortured by the vandal's hands.
Rohan Jayetilleke
----
On the brink of decade three
We hail you dear lady,
Now sailing on the high seas,
Well begun, well directed, well poised,
By your pioneers,
Now proud and conquering,
This, Vihara Maha Devi Balika Vidyalaya
We, her, original crew,
They, her, young and beaming in take,
On her, unchartered, maiden voyage.
Those that made her succeeding crew,
The many that were her latter-day guests,
And the milling crowd of parental watch-dogs.
We in common chord sing,
Your eternal jubilation song.
Do live on, and give your succour,
To thirsting thousands, nay, millions,
Give more strength to her elbow,
The present skipper of the great liner
Oh! you lactate Mother of many,
The lady of Kiribathgoda.
Born on February 1st 1977
For things well begun are not half-done
But well done for ever
Chinta Perera
----
Ghosts of War
Midst the velvet gloom of night,
Softly the widows weep,
For their dead till morning light,
Eyes red, bereft of sleep.
Violence, terror stalk the world,
Confusion circles man,
Complacent rich sleep snugly curled,
Mankind a rotten clan.
The hoot of owl, the howl of hound,
Usher spirits of the dead,
Trooping in for one last round,
Of adieus to their beloved.
After hugs unfelt by kith and kin,
Like silver ships in space,
They skyward soar to lands sans sin,
Freed from the human race.
Safe from booby trap and mine,
No rousing battle cries,
Once humans with a mirrored shine,
Were mortals sad, unwise.
High up from azure moonlit skies,
Floating to alien lands,
Gaze sadly at the world unwise,
Replete with warring bands.
A. Bogoda
---
The despised durian
It's so well-known
That of nature's bounteous trees
Inhabiting this ample earth
The spiky durian outstands
As the most despised tree by man.
Though its luxuriant branches
Seasonally burst out with creamy flowers
To provide spiky green fruits
To satisfy man's singular appetite
Through the enticingly delicious pulp
That encloses its fertile seeds,
It's so cruelly despised
By those who cannot stand
Its uniquely foul odour
Which is its special feature.
These days, specially in August,
We pass by wayside huts
Filed up with this spiky fruit
To cater to the wild demands
Of those who relish to taste
Its appetisingly creamy pulp
Which no durian fan can ever resist,
And no lover of Durians
Could ever express
The utter delight one feels
When mouthing this elegantly tasty flesh
Which is ambrosia to the watering lips
Of all those who adore this tropical fruit.
So, it's nothing but right
That we try with all our might
To save durian
From being ruthlessly despised.
Andrew Scott
----
T'sunami questioned
High and low,
Rich and poor,
Noble and mean
All must die
Regardless of the class
In his presence
T'sunami taught us
Wise and foolish,
Weak and mighty,
Frugal and prodigal,
All must die
Regardless of the creed
In his presence
T'sunami taught us
Generous and stingy,
Erudite and ignorant,
Honest and dishonest,
All must die
Regardless of the creed
In his presence
T'sunami taught us
Generous and stingy,
Erudite and ignorant,
Honest and dishonest,
All must die
Regardless of the clan
In his presence
T'sunami taught us
Unassuming and haughty,
Compassionate and wicked,
Amenable and impervious,
All must die
Regardless of the caste
In his presence,
T'sunami taught us
Peacemakers and warmongers,
Lawmakers and lawbreakers
Warriors and cowards,
All must die
Regardless of the complexion
In his presence,
T'sunami taught us
Saints and scoundrels,
Extroverts and introverts,
Philanthropists and misers,
All must die
Regardless of the nobility,
In his presence,
T'sunami taught us
How many of you did witness this reality?
How many of you did perceive this truth?
How many of you did cultivate good will?
Having learnt lessons from the past
T'sunami questioned after two years!
Sarath Sandacan
---
Amma I love you
Stripped of love, the universe
Would drive us mad with pain,
But we are born into this unknown world
That greet our first cries with love, joy and care
Amma how much I owe you for the first kiss,
That told me who I was
That greatest gift a love of life
Lay smilling in your eyes
Ammas lending hand gently picked me
Until I was strength to stand by my own
You pick me amma when I was down,
When I need a friend you were around.
Amma when I was talking baby talk
Amma you were listening to me
When I was studing in the midnight you were sitting beside me
I can remember the extra miles you walks still with me
Amma I love you first of all
Then thanks for all you have done to me with love
It means you means a lot to me Amma
And that I honour you with everlasting Love
Because of you Amma my world still has
The tender grace of your smile,
And every wind of fortune bears,
The scent of your love caress
Amma most of all I guess it means
That I am thinking of
Your happiness on this day
With pleasure and with love.
Amma I promise you on this day
The way you brought me
I will try my best to bring up
Your ever loving grand daughter.
Lakmini S. T. Wijeyeratne
----
Is World Cup a dream?
Winning the world cup is not a dream - if
Our aspirations are noble and great
Resolutions firmed, will pave the way to the success
Losing once, will bring to harm to the morale as we are brave
Dedication will finally bear fruits on the way back home
Catches sometimes win matches unpredictably
Umpiring, though unbiased may sometimes by uncanny
Palpitation on and off varying with strike rates
Demonstrative Pinch-Hitters will steal the turf
Refulgent reformers restore the destroyed innings
Enthusiastic fans encourage the battle field
Antagonists leave no stone unturned to grab the Golden cup
Million of fans make merry motivating mutual obligation.
Sudath Jayathissa Hewamadduma |
