Poems

RAIN, UNRULY RAIN

Rain, unruly rain, are you a friend or a foe?
For days and months, you were hiding somewhere
How much we suffered we cannot explain.
No water to drink, no water to cook
No water to wash – what a mess it was.
Animals were roaming searching for water
Plants were withering, drooping they were.
We all were praying watching the skies
Yet you were deaf to all our prayers.
You’ve come back. Oh! What a blessing.
But ...What’s going to happen,
I began to wonder!
From morn till night, you poured and poured
Without a pause, without a break.
Overflowing were the drains, flooded were the gardens.
Please don’t become so disastrous, I prayed.
Are you punishing all of us,
For the irreparable disasters, a few had committed?
We know that our healthy forests,
Were stripped off of their age-old trees,
Flattened and levelled were the beautiful hills,
To make way for skyscrapers.
Brutally damaged were the river banks
With incessant, illegal sand mining.
Mother Earth had bitterly cried
Seeing her own children ruining her.
Only a few are culprits, we know
Yet, ‘One bug bites: but all are killed’
Do we all have to suffer
Because of a few an unruly ones?

Lalitha Somathilaka

*******

Juliet without a Romeo

You are bound to all
Not to peculiar type man
Who makes bogus love
You are a Juliet
But he is not a Romeo
Your life was not well read by him
But by others well
Your departure makes our
Inside full of sorrow
Your blind faith in him
Has fallen you in darkness
You plant your love
Inside the poisonous vessel
You suck the poison
With little and poor knowledge
Wordless expression
Has been drawn on your face
Is the trustee on you
You departed as the shading Sun
Sinking us in a darkness
Vacuum created inside us
Can’t be fulfilled
You have left this world
As an icon of Asian girl

A Ranasinghe

*******

Lonely

Not a soul to be seen,
Can't understand what it means,
Have to say it leads to fear,
Fear that the end's very near.
No human stepped in,
Only cats searching the bin,
The wind was so fearfully mild,
Playing its tunes in the wild.
Then again the nasty silence,
None came to break the silence,
I would've committed suicide in pain,
If only I got out of being in vain.
No face turned up to smile,
I stopped breathing for a while,
The falling leaves touched me kindly,
To make me realise – that I was, after all; lonely.

D W Lilani Anuruddhika

*******

UNIVERSAL EMBARRASSMENT

That’s where cultures differ,
Stepping into the second stage.
Male kept apart, even though dad or sibling
Mother’s warmth, foremost of all.
Uncomfortable, stains in dress, frightened
No peers can help, a mother is a guardian, the mentor.
Confined to a room, no oily food, other restrictions,
Alarming stories, into the ears, to a brave new world she goes.
An array of rituals, poverty not a barrier,
Bathing is the coronation, pride of the family.
‘’Fallen from the tree’’ teasing goes on, yet
Loads of blessings, myriads of presents.
Grace and honour, duties of a woman
Gravity of living, handling of life,
Thrust on her, by all and sundry
Elders are the mentors.
Private happening within the body
Culture-wise happens that all,
Public display or hidden thing
Culture says it all.

P RILLAGODA

*******

Time for unmasking

Come let's sit and talk
You as you are
Me as I am
It's time for unmasking
A little bit of you is me
A little bit of me is you
We are not miles apart
We are but smiles apart
Oh.. how cruel this silence is!
Dumb it is when we converse
Loud it is when we don't
Rustling of the stillness
Keeps our nights awake
Oh dear...
We know too well
A whisper... a micro touch
All that is needed
To shatter your anger
So let's bring down the curtain
And sit and talk
You as you are
Me as I am.
Yes… It's time for unmasking

Subramanya Selva