POETRY

India

Steep mountain summits
On one side
Bare waste lands
On the other
A country of different landforms.
Freezing cold
On one side
Hot and humid
On the other
A country of different climates.
Hindi, Urdu,
Bengali and Tamil
A country of many languages.
Along with different
Cultures, crafts
Knowledge and beliefs.
India, is a country
With many things.
A place where you can
Expect the unexpected!

Nillasi Liyanage

Violation

Finally,
The rain has stopped
And all the crickets have returned,
To violate the order of the silence,
Of a dark, damp night
With their
Continuous cacophony of music.
Strangely,
All the trees are lost in music;
The frogs are faithfully listening;
And my small waterfall
Has lost its spirit to murmur,
Letting the unruly crickets
Break the silence,
And to rule the midnight!
And alas,
With no one else to discipline them,
I take things into my hands,
Flashing a light to the corners of the room
In search of culprits
Unsuccessfully.
And a tiny star
Far above in the sky,
Gives me a knowing smile.

Chanakya Liyanage

Let me do it

Recall my memory of the childhood
You wanted, always to be right and good
Never to be selfish, share all what I could
Inculcate mankind, and that I should
Save the needy
And their goodwill
Never to make foes even they force
Enjoy life, living in peace
May you observe from your brave grave
Its only a race in this tiny space
A race of greediness
Not the goodwill
Withered faces with swallowing cries
Glamour, glory, happiness demise
Marching forward with my comrades
Every moment, I could realise
Exact time, to firmly revise
Your good lesson
The lesson of goodwill
Bless me mother, from your grave yard
My strength and courage in the battle yard
Let me stand straight and keep my word
Lives of innocent cannot go withered
Let me do it, fulfil my work load
To enlighten ennoble peace
And uplift goodwill
The goodwill for everyone

Susil Abeynanda

Dark clouds of torture

The cool gentle breeze
Didn't disturb the pattern of life
But balanced the colour of it
Within that reality
I was wandering about
Days spent with hidden tears
Bearing all the pains in my womb
I could hear my little child whimpering
The trauma of torture caused more grief and pain
The grief is more than I can bear
In the eyes of cruelty.
Unfaithful stranger is silent
Fallen with vanity of women
And trapped in first impressions
Has forgotten the little child
Engulfed with the flame of lust and blues
With desperate hopes
I wonder why men of
New generation lack manhood
Evenings spent with rainbow of hopes
turned into dark clouds of torture
Fading smiles filled my private paradise
I feel that there is no home though a house
Waves of love and kindness splashed
Against the rocky coasts of cruelty
And scattered here and there
I wonder,
Why they do not live
Within the reality of life
With simple dreams

Janadari Kapugama

Provinces of Lanka

Nine Provinces of Lanka - God blessed beauties they
Caring Home to diverse millions living day by day
North to South - West and East her progeny unite to say
Arise Mother Lanka - in Truth, Life and Mercy way
Thy sons and daughters who've left for greener shores
Languish in many nations in menial cheap chores
We look for the bright dawn beyond the war and woes
O Lord, pour the oil to heal our many bleeding sores
North Central terrain of kings, tanks ancient glory
Monuments archaic regal tell us the wondrous story
Sluice gates Yodha Ela technical marvels of history
When will thy redemption be from blood, gore and gory
Trinco, Batti, Amparai, Eastern Lanka's golden beach
Ravaged as merciless tsunami many a life breach
Trincomalee Asia's finest harbour the world to reach
Peace dawning for the races harmony we beseech
Mahaweli basin a Paddy district of its own right
Elephants aplenty waters of Inginiyagala's might
Tribute to DSS - a father's endeavour and foresight
Thoppigala- terror no more; prosperity brings light
Uva- Spittle's 'Savage Sanctuary' backward no more
Dunhinda, Diyaluma, Ravana falls add their glow
Minipe daring early settlers - Namunukula tall forlorn
Dry Buttala and salubrious Bandarawela quite a combo
Wayamba Dambadeniya royal fortress of ancient king
Deduru, Mee Oya nourish the rich soil gently flowing
Coconut Triangle desiccated exported income bring
Athu Gal hovers in elephant shape its greatness sing
Sabaragamuwa famed for yellow and blue sapphire
Adorning the diadem of the Queen of the last Empire
Source for four major rivers- Kalu, is Provincial Sire
Tea, coconut, rubber bring in the commercial hire
Sinharaja primordial rain forest of valued biodiversity
Pushparaga, aranol, vairodi of our lustrous gem city
Tarnished by the flesh trade - to man man's inhumanity
Father we cry for a fast vanishing youthful virginity
Kandy kingly intrigue - wounded memories of alien hand
Central Hill Country velvet carpet of green tea land
Climbing thru Ramboda to Hakgala and Little England
Roses, motor races unmoved Pidurutalaga tall stand
Grit and guts, O North of Lanka, Art, culture, education
We plead, honour lament thee, recall thy celebration
Wisp of hope many races - may they live as one nation
Kotta kilangai, karthakolumbun famed culinary presentation
O North let thy noble sons live to marry thy daughters
Generations rise live again in ancient family quarters
Cousins in alien nations come back across many waters
O Jaffna, "Broken Palmyra", time nigh freed of terrors
Sons of the South Ruhuna's ancient warrior heritage
Ging, Nilwala, Walawe, Manik, Kirindi rivers rage
Sadly her beaches polluted by paedophile rampage
Birthed a President, PM, poets, Martin W the sage
Mannar's Pearls, South's Kiri peni, cinnamon sensation
Endowed with God's best, then Asia's wealthiest nation
Many decry Portugese, Dutch and British domination
Daunting challenge - heal our land for next generation

Dr. Lalith Mendis

Enigmatic Nature

A ghostly spirit stealthily strolls on or gate crashes,
It was shrouded in pitch black creeping in all spaces,
The star spangled sky spread above sheds some light,
An owl's melancholy hoot, makes us alert and vigilant.
Its hoot in the night echoes, as the sentry's signal,
Believing it to be the wisest of all we tent to listen,
It's so clear, sharp tortures the mind through deep night,
Perhaps an advice delivered to us to leave nature alone.
Sweet fragrance of the blossoms of midnight queen,
Waves up and down the flimsily darkness on
branches of green,
The perfume which floats through the air making us joyous,
Making it evident marvellously of God almighty; its existence.
Nature so rich composed of varied elements and qualities,
Beauty fragrance, simplicity as well as unexplainable
complexity,
Nature has many many plus points and minus points too,
Accept nature as it is, its existence; its life and its truth.

Radha Ranjani Jayawardena

Touched by an Angel

The old man awoke from a serious coma
and realised that he was in a hospital bed.
He could only move his eyes and lips
with several tubes running into his body.
All his limbs were paralysed and aching
and his mental process impaired.
In spite of all the expensive drugs and care
he was mentally depressed and losing ground.
In his serious condition the doctors thought
that he would not survive beyond a few days.
He too was in despair and had little desire
to live any longer with all the trouble.
When all had lost hope, a young lady doctor
examined the patient and presumed
that there was some room for hope.
She felt the patient's thoughts
and assured that he would be all right
if he could muster a little will to live.
The lady doctor was at hand to help
and went out of her way to provide
all the needed advice and medical care.
The patient regained his self-confidence
and survived the most crucial days
with the doctor's compassionate ways.
She treated his ailing body and mind
with medicine and her pleasing manner.
After lying for ten weeks in the hospital bed
the patient recovered in full and could walk.
The lady doctor with the angel touch
was not there to thank when he was discharged.

K. M. Gunaratne

See through the game

A noble profession:
They say
When harmony pervades
Heartless friends
Same tongues wag
When justice demanded.
With burning hearts, yet,
Known to us only
We lament the trickery.
They say, we can't see.
We know, they refuse to see.
Our shoe pinches
But not theirs.
Hurt us more
And more and more.
Let the bundles over bundles
Lie idly on the tables
Until we come.
Only a sober mind
Can judge your work.
Are you too young
To see the truth?
Curse those
Who deserve, but not us.
See through the game,
Dear pupils,
Nurtured by us
With knowledge and wisdom.

T. M. J. B. Tennakoon

We, the humans

We, the humans,
Are the highest and
The noblest of all the creatures
In the world
That is what we claim
Because we have the power
Of speech and writing and weapons
The animals, birds, reptiles
And other creatures
Cannot speak, write or do not possess weapons
So we proclaim our superiority over them
In everything unchallenged
Do the animals and other creatures
Kill one another
Like how the human beings do
Do they wage war against another country
One nation against another
One race against another
One religion against another
One caste against another
One ideology against another
Like the human beings
Those creatures
Who are carnivorous by nature
Kill another for their food
But do not go about killing others
At random or en masse
Like the human beings
Yet we, humans boast
That we are a
Superior and nobel creature
If only the animals and other creatures
Could speak and write
They will expose our hypocrisy
And the alleged noble qualities

Arul