Poetry

Babies laughing

The hares hopping
Round the pond Nibbling at the grass
Parrots sitting
On a branch
Pecking at the fruits
The doves trotting
Amidst barns
picking up the grains
The bees humming
On the flowers
Collecting nectar
calves pressing
At the mothers
Sucking milk there
Babies peeping
Through the grills
laughing at the air

D.M.P.B. Dissanayake

Music

Music everywhere we find
Rhythm in everything we do.
Horse's hoofs give a rhythmic beat
Unique thumps give our feet.
Temple bells bring a rhythm of peace
Rustling leaves dance with the breeze
Rolling waves give music coarse
As they endlessly dash the shores.
A song of the bird, how sweet
to the ear,
The lion's roar so hard to bear.
Monkey's chatter not a music sweet,
Still they have the rhythmic beat.
Music we hear in everything
Rhythm in everything we do.

Lalitha Somathilaka

Rose, Rose !

(A tribute to a rose)

Rose, Rose,
In my garden grows
How beautiful
Thou art!

I love art
And I will make
Thou smart
In my own way
In art!

With thy petals tender,
Thou art so slender
Thou art no farce
For thou art real
And just ideal,
Thou dost make
My dreams, come true!

Rose, Rose,
My beautiful rose,
How happy I am with thee!

Thou maketh my day
Bright and Gay
Thank you,
My pretty little rose!

Rose, Rose
Thou wonderful Rose
I'm so glad
I found thee clad,
With petals Red and
Stems green, I'll make
a beautiful painting
of thee!

Rose, Rose
Adorable rose,
I'm so proud
Of thee !

With dew drops
On thy face,
And sunlight embrace,
Thou look
So charming, to me!

Rose, Rose,
In my garden grows
Thou unique,
Little rose!

C. Mohanlal de Mel.

My darling Sussie

Sussie was a girl from my village,
We attended the same college,
And travelled by the school train,
She was clever and had a rare brain.

Sussie was thin and fair,
And had a very long curly hair,
Her teeth were just like pearls,
I liked her most of all other girls.

Then I was a very naughty boy,
And not at all afraid and coy,
She first loved me as a brother,
Then later we began to love each other.

The boys and girls used to mock,
When we both ate the same icy choc
But Sussie was adamant and didn't care,
And when angry fought like a bear.

Day after Christmas they went on a trip,
With her parents and brother naughty Philip, Their car was
seized by the Tsunami tide,
And had been dragged to the vast sea side.

Sussie was brave and could swim well,
But their car had flown like a shell,
No body could go forward to save,
So, the ocean became my darling Sussie's grave.

D. Goonetilleke

Transformation

When I first looked into the mirror
I wondered who the ugly man
In front of me was
As I got used to looking into the mirror
I felt there was no man
In the whole world
More handsome than me!

Arul

The Kite Flyer

The kite was flying high in the blue sky
With its long tail fluttering
In symphony with the evening breeze.
The string of the kite
Was in the hands of a young boy
Who was smiling with pride and delight.

The millionaire was flying high
In his private plane over the play ground
Where the boy was flying his kite.
Looking through his binoculars he saw
How happy the boy was with his venture
As if he owned the whole wide world

The millionaire had to go places in a hurry
To tackle problems in his companies.
He imagined if he could be as happy
And content as the boy
He would give up all his riches
And become an ordinary man.

K.M. Gunaratne

A Coloured Life

He walked along the street
amidst city dust and coloured lights
wandering the days full of hopes
in his teens and twenties

The gentle breeze came over
the lush green paddy fields
Dew drops at dawn
Chirping melody of the birds
Genuine smile of the villagers
amidst so many hardships

He wandered the turning point
having said good bye
to the peaceful days of his childhood
He entered his life
full of youthful aspirations

He saw himself as a revolutionary
student riots, demonstrations
He experienced so many challenges
of the youth of the twenty-first century
Once he was lost in the world
of his sweet heart
Pleasant memories
amidst the rebellious youths
Truly a coloured life

Janadari Wijesinghe

To my soulmate

Although you may have
Made love to hundred other women,
To snare in marble
At the best a mule,
The image in the purpose of a fool,
I want you, my only lover
Time will become irrelevant
And standstill
When we are together
Will you come and fill this heart
So full to the
Throbbing of a magul-bera/
No other love could there ever be
Now and for our golden future
I want to feel the warmth of your presence around me

L.N.J. Perera

What a pity!

The day I came to understand
That the path you had taken was correct
I, who had cursed you
For having brought me along that path
I, who had left you-never to return,
Came in search of you
With a heart full of gratitude
To thank you
For having brought me along that path
For having made my life meaningful
Knowing that you'd be delighted
To hear me say so
But then !
You told me with no hesitation
With firm conviction
That what I had said was correct
That the path you had taken was wrong
Oh dear !
What have I done to you !

Palitha Solomons

My Love

Sun rose, flowers bloomed
It was a dawn for a new day
I lay on my bed,
thinking of my sweet memories of all the yesterdays.
My eyes searched ammi's face
My heart searched daddy's warmth
They are far away from me
There will be no kisses and hugs for a long time
Truth was so harsh
I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly both of you came to my life
Your love and affection prevent me from loneliness
Your love is like morning breeze
Gives me strength to start every morning with a hope
When I was ill and wanted to see my parents
Both of you were near me as my parents
Smiling faces and encouraging words healed my heart and soul
Aunty's delicious food made physically strength
Uncle's priceless words made me understand real image of life.
In our life, only our parents will feed us with love and care us
Without expecting anything in return
But I'm so lucky I have got a dear aunt and uncle who dry my tears
and guide me when I'm travelling through hard roads,
Without expecting anything in return
These words cannot express my love and gratitude to both of you,
My dear aunt and uncle ...........
But every morning and night I pray for your health and happiness
as a daughter praying for her parents.

Achini Ranasinghe.

Candlelight

When a black-out occurred,
Drowning our home,
In a deep sea of darkness,
I struck a match,
And lit a candle,
In my room.

As I lay on my bed,
Watching the candle,
Emitting pale, languorous light,
A lovely thought struck me,
'Her love is like this candlelight itself!'

But a sudden gust of wind,
Through the open casement,
Invaded my room,
And blew it out,
Re-drowning the room,
In eerie, dreadful darkness.

'What'd become of me,
If I lost her too?'
I shuddered
At my own thought.....

Jayashantha Jayawardhana