Homage

Homage to my Master, the Sakyamuni
May your shining example
Inspire within me,
An iota of those noble virtues
Let me lay at your feet
Colourful blossoms of fragrant sweet
A most humble posy
Picked from the grove
Of my garden green
A heart moist with boundless compassion,
And lofty ideals ignorance-dispelling
O Master universal, free from all clingings
Guide me on......
To eschew evil doings
In thee, I take refuge,
Till the day dawns
To stop the ever turning wheel
In long Sansara,
Finally to reach the goal,
Where birth and death are found
no more,
"The Summum Bonum" of Buddhism - Nibbana
Where all Buddhists aspire to be

J.P. Pathirana

---

Vesak
Vesak

Vesak Vesak Vesak
and today's full moon day,
Blooms the flowers on land and water
to honour the Lord Buddha
Brings forth the Dhamma
that man's mind had found,
The cuckoo it is that sings
When the glamour of spring thus dawns
with its notes of inspiration

Reposing in the seat of diamonds
When malignant Mara was routed
a halo did extend from the bo-tree root
on that day in Buddha Gaya of fame supreme,
So fresh a philosophy from the Truth Fourfold
emerge meanings that's gold
and in the blue skies yonder afar are they etched

The Dhamma of the Buddha
is heard from his own voice
and expands as a power
as a science in one's ears,
With goodness and liberty
the mind is softened
the mind is eased,
With greetings for the future for the common masses

On that day, the sun and moon
with felicity did they smile,
Lighting up each celestial body,
No fear, no sorrow doth remain
on hearing a sermon of nobility
with meaning of great reality,
bringing such solace and beatitude

Wimal Abhayasundara

----

Atman

Where is the Atman?
The innermost? Is it self?
Is it flesh and bone?
thought or consciousness?

Soul is an arrow
penetrates the innermost during sleep
to reach Atman..
Therefore it is said
Your soul is the whole world.

World is bitter
and life is pain
Happiness and beauty
are all illusions of sense
doomed to decay

When empty of thirst
desire, dreams, pleasure and sorrow
the self dies
When all passions and desires
are silent
the innermost is awakened
like a star in the heavens.

Jeevani Hasantha Wickramatunga

----

Bird brain

The west is in haze, the sun
A red apple, is dangling on
Ere from the day its done
Leaving the World, the dark veil to wrap in.

The birds feeding the fields in
Shocked at its demise sudden
Fly the weary way back to their kith and kin
Miles away to remote places and town
To lament the death of the beloved sun

To complain glibber and jabber
That their lives are lost for ever
The enemies of the light and day had won
And they are flying over by then
Perched they on a twig or a wire
To the eternal end for ever
On to a clear top all did retire.

The rooster climbed to the crown
To get the last glimpse the sun drown
Agitated further not to own
The company of the hen bemoan
That the sun again never be born.

To his wonder darkness gets thinner and thinner
From the east he sees the dead sun appear
The rapture he can't simply bear
Cock-doodle-doo' to the world does declare
The sun's up, then all join the funfair
To keep the sun for ever up there
Of yesterday, and tomorrow they are not aware.

M.G. Somasada Kariyawasam

----

Moon signs

I watch the night
I, gaze upward at the sky
Then its black I view
The satellite revolves
Amidst a galaxy of stars
In a lunar month
Reflecting sun's light
A disc of light, the full moon
Lighting a dark sky above
Then the canines howl
Bringing bad omen in barks
Yet the queen of asterisks
Shine hidden by night
I watch the clouds glowpoint
Hiding the nightly satellite
Sparkling celestial bodies
Surrounding in retinue
Soon the cloudy glow clears
Reveals a bright new moon
Consisted of moonstones
The pearly feldspar rocks
Perhaps these rocks are there
Like a hammock then
The half moon reclines
A halo illumines around
A dim warning glow remains
Indicating moon's presence
The clouds pass by greeting
Without obstructing light
As man on earth conquered
Trampling its moon rock
By firm feet on ground.

Miran Perera

----

Hands that work

Hands, Hands, Hands that work
Hands are busy, all day long,
Work, that has to be done today.
Must be done, sans delay!

Hands, are made, for Work and play
Five fingers, each hand display
Each finger, long of short
Serves its purpose, as it ought!

Make the most, of your graceful hands
Do your duty, by God and man,
Minus your hands, how helpless you are
They are an asset, for what you are!

Hands are made of, flesh and blood
Take good care of both your hands
Look after them, as best you can
You'll never get, much better hands!

Hands, are worth much more then gold
Cherish your hands, on the whole
There are those, who have no hands,
How blessed are we, to have both our hands!

C. Mohanlal de Mel

----

The Difference

You expected
I gave - Love
You rejected
I stayed - Hope
You mocked
I smiled - Feelings
You broke
I kept - Trust
You gave colours
I painted - Dreams
You left
I stayed - Faith
You escaped
I lived - Life

Bertholameuze Nisansala Dharmasena.

---

Enliving ashes

Beneath the thick dense,
Holding the gun close to his heart
He waited, his watchful eyes,
Piercing the dark night.
Nothing stirred and no sound was heard.
He saw the twinkling stars in the calm grey sky.
The smell of pain, milk rice on the fire
His favourite dishes covering the table,
Laughter filling his home
Everything made anew.
Little ones dancing around him
One by one crackers go off
Boom....boom...boom
Broken silence
Shouts...screams heard
Running...footsteps
Silence.
Shattered...life spilling
Into ashes....burning
Torn....dream
Unfulfilled.

Ruwanthi Abeyakoon

---

My first love letter

I found a new lover
I found him at the
rear line of my English class.
My eyes snatched him.
I yearned for him.
I gave a letter, two sheets full,
On the fourth day of my class.

I wrote in the letter
"my eyes snapped yours my dear
I lick your lugubrious eyes
I lick your drooping lips
I lick your bold head
I lick your gaunt stature
I offer my hate to you
That's why, I send
this letter to you.
My dullard,"
He didn't give a letter in reply
Instead was frowning at me
His friend told
I have misspelt
I really forgot to memorise
My vocabulary
I learnt day before yesterday.

Saara Panchamee Hewavissenti