Poetry

The pining heart

How deeply for thee do I pine
The dear and near one of mine
That sad but smiling face of thine
In my mental sky does it always shine.

How strongly to me were you attached
When suddenly from me were you snatched
Physically though do we remain detached
Firmly together are our souls stitched.

Your kith and kin did bitter tears shed
While with silent tears my heart bled
All around you people with eyes red
Wept and wailed but this world you fled.

My heart - a sea of turbulent water
O the loss of a dearest daughter.

N.M.L.M. Haleel

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Empty tomb

Behold! the folly of man
Where a mausoleum stand
A monument to self esteem
Where the builder was not destined
To eternal rest and peace.

Taj Mahal of Shah Jahan
Was a marble rhapsody
Of immortal love
His mini Mahal
Was a tombstone parody
To the vanity of self love

He was a bale merchant
Who began life on the pavement
It was the war days
Goods were scarce always

Some enterprising buccaneers
Pilfered and ran down
Her majesty's go - down
Goods found their ways

To our hero's business place
Cigarettes bully beef and whisky
Watches and other wares
Were sold for prices fair

With the smile of dame fortune
His time was very opportune
Goods piled and money spiralled
He was the talk of the town

Money came and money went
His munificence was legendary
Honours were bestowed by her Majesty
He reached the dizzy heights
Where the ego was in great pride
Some become gods in earthly garb.

He built his monument
For his glorious internment
A mini Mogul mausoleum
With carved teak doors and other equipment

He inscribed in golden letters
The legend Mr.................
His obscure nativity 1926
His pompous divinity...............

His ego knew no bounds,
He dreamed of a grand funeral
With mourning pipes and muffled drums
With air dropping in festoon showers
Of million fragrant jasmine flowers

But time and tide
Change the man's life
Mara foreclosed his wealth
The bottom trap door open'd
His wealth and fortune disappeared

He was forced to a miserable penury
He became a hapless Timon in fury
He dragged his carcass to obscurity
What a shame what a pity
He was buried in a pauper's cemetery.

G.H.A. Suraweera

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In my old age

In the scorching life's long way
I plodded along day after day
blazing a path of dazzling fame
leaving behind a glorious name

Now as I sit amidst childlike faces
who yearn to relieve by-gone graces
in my heart, strong jealously swells
as within me bitter emptiness dwells

While visited by loving kith and kin
Others are blessed with joy within
loitering along the trudged terrain
I'm left alone to soothe my strain

My darling loved ones to me born
to distant lands they have all gone
leaving behind a child so rare
who showered on me endless care

Poisoned by one with rancour and trick
dropped down like a red hot brick
I walk to the grave with my heart torn
now succoured by those my parents born

The pride and arrogance that held sway
over youthful years all fading away
in silent tears I look at the walls around
reading the scriptures that they abound

"O keep me sweet and let me look
beyond the frets that life must hold"

NEBTI

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The Eyewitness of Hotel Rwanda

From a tiny window of the hotel Rwanda
I saw two tribes killing each other
Man against man
Brother against brother
I witnessed killing and massacre

The insane evil Radio
Controlled the minds of people
Constantly giving commands
Go go go
Go and kill cockroaches

The good men of yesterday
Turned to savages
No remorse or guilt
Seeking blood and flesh

I saw little orphans in fear of death
Looking for safe places
No place to run
No place to hide
They were abandoned by the rest of the world

Dr. Ruwan M. Jayatunge

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A poem for Dada

It has been ten years since you've gone
But the pain of losing you is still strong
The memories keep coming back day after day
in all my life's paths and ways

It was oh so sudden ten years ago
When you left us to be with God
I often wonder if life exists after
I guess I will never know the answer

Do you think of us?
Do you see us?
Are you an angel up there?
Are you the one who gives me strength
to go on with all life's bends?

Your grandsons are much older now
But you never got to see them
You were loved and was our hero
So why did you have to go so?

Sometimes I see your traits in me
Often I see your face in my children
You see it's impossible to forget you
But how we wish you were there in person

I wish you can see us
I wish you can see your grandsons
They ask me all the time about seeya
Is he really an angel up there?

I tell them you were a wonderful father
I tell them you were loving too
I tell them how you could tell wonderful stories
and give speeches full of awe

I tell them how incredibly wise you were
and how you taught us right from wrong
I teach them now the values you taught me
The poor are as good as the rich in my house

I try to treat all as equal
just like you taught me
I try to believe the world is not evil
although sometimes it's hard to see

I wonder if you'd be proud of me
If you see me now
I wonder what you'd tell my kids
If we could see you now

We all miss you, I hope you know
You have been my inspiration, I hope you know
I wish I could have told you, I hope you know
I love you very much, I think you know.

From your loving daughter Monja de Silva

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A bird's point of view

on watching the cricket match at Hobart cricket grounds:

Our feathered clan did once enjoy
Such blissful days of ease,
But since of late some lesser beings
Have occupied the crease!

We're driven round and round the field,
From one end to the other
Lord what fools these mortals be
Why all this fuss and bother?

Eleven guys right round the field,
Two more in the middle,
Two coated ones just hand around
To us they're quite a riddle!

Why do they shout and jabber so
Chasing a ball so madly?
Have their senses taken leave of them...?
We reckon rather sadly.

Why does that coated one out there
Keep thumping on his leg?
Or wildly wave his arms about
Has he had one off the keg?

How can a poor guy's leg by square?
Why throw him in the gully?
They're always either on or off
Or else they're plainly silly!

They cut and hook, they drive and sweep
They spin and bounce and york it.
My word they look so hopping mad
They're reached a giddy limit!

Like a flash of lightning some years ago
A cruel missile came
O what a price we had to pay
For the foolish mortals' game!

The peace and quiet we once enjoyed
Alas lie rudely shattered!
But to these cricket-crazy guys
A score was all that mattered!

Sheila Gunasekera

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Man his own Enemy

As human beings
Haven't we become
Own enemies?
Armed with weapons
Of mass destruction
Ready for war
Amongst ourselves
Killing our own kind
Plant and animal life too.
What a tragedy,
Being ourselves
A human family.
Superior life on earth
With the highest intelligence
Using our intellect
For our own destruction.
Reality forgotten.
What a tragedy,
A shame on us too.

Edward Arambewala

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An ode to Remembrance Day

The foot of your gravestone
Is covered with red poppies..
The words aren't enough
To express your sacrifice
In the battlefield
The winds will whisper...
This tearful story
To the passers by..
And the sun rays
Will make your carved name
Glitter...
Forever in gold..

Vishaka Senadhira

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A fond memory

Its metallic beauty a sheen in the morning Sun
Burnished brass plates agleam
And steam searing the air in a shrieking jet
The undercarriage white-bot, scaring,
Dropping live glowing embers on the track
The roaring furnace shooting menacing flames
At the coal-feeders; in majestic grandeur
Shuddering, yearning, starining on the rails
To run, to rush up the hill, furious through tunnels
Echoing the valleys with its indescribable rhythmic thunder
Punctuating the lives of people who saw it
A mystery flitting through the lingering strands of mist
Mingled with coal smoke!
The regal, the great Garret steam engine
Stood bewitching, enchanting,
Throbbing the air in impatience,
Waiting; waiting
For Mr. Balthazar's hand
On the whistle cord.

Ben Rasnaek

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Daffodils

I saw daffodils dancing
Among the forget-me-nots
Butterflies were flying here and there
And I just remembered you

Bertholamuze Nisansala Dharmasena