Philosophy

He went around comforting the grieved,
Telling them the meaning of life,
“In life you never get what you want,
You only get what you need.”

He wiped off their tears with a kind hand,
Told them not to lose hope,
“Whatever comes will always come
All you can do is just cope”

He embraced people with a genuine smile,
He told them to forget the pain,
“If it is your’s, don’t worry my friend,
It will surely comeback again”

He patted the hand of the broken hearted
While he mumbled alone,
“Smile is sweet, but tear is sweetest,
What is life, when sorrow is gone?”

Then came his turn to feel the pain,
To cry through night in bed,
Things he thought, he forgot it all,
By morning he was dead.

Sakunika PERERA

The eyewitness

From a tiny window of the Hotel Rwanda
I saw two tribes killing each other
Man against man
Brother against brother
I witnessed killings 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 into savages
No remorse or guilt
Seeking blood and human flesh

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

Dr Ruwan M JAYATUNGE

The stoic

All these ten years I had been,
Trapped in my own world.
I see the moonlight at night,
It makes these prisoners’ eyes gleam bright.
I feel the warmth of the sun,
Through the iron bars that keep me shunned.
How I long to feel the love of a family,
Even jailors allow that.
I’ve no mates in this prison,
Now how can I bear that?
Sometimes I wonder who said,
Life’s all about living,
When all I do is nothing but sacrifice.

Ravindi SILVA

Suicide bomber

In another five minutes,
The roar of this bus
Will stop forever.
The tired figures
Of men and women,
Will lie peacefully.
Ah! the eternal rest...
The little one,
Suckling her mothers’ breast,
Will soon be rid of the oppression,
Of this cruel world.
Ah! the lucky one...
She won’t have to suffer,
In this grotesque zoo.
The lovers,
Eyes overflowing with love,
Heaps of hopes,
Making plans,
That will never be fulfilled.
Ah! the crumbling future,
Why would I care?
They should suffer,
What I suffered once.
And me,
My family is waiting,
“We are so proud of you”,
Farewell, my greatest triumph!
Ah! the bliss of revenge,
Contentment of life,
I’m going to win it soon.

Hansi JAYASINGHE

I’m Sri Lankan

Exhausted by the midday sun
I sought the comfort of an AC bus home.
Failing to find an unmarried seat
I slumped myself at the back corner
The “lovers’ seat.”

The urge to seek through to light compelled me
To peep through the curtains
Instant miscommunication:
He, who was standing right across the glass,
Believing I beckoned
Came in and sat down next to me.
What a great couple I thought...
Knowing I’d lost my precious nap
I now had to listen to the commuter
Negotiating the arrangement
Of flights over phone in Singlish
In a desperate attempt to keep me enthraled...

I played dumb and slept even more
Squashed amidst the hulk figure
And burdened by unwanted nudging...
I blurted one phrase till home:
“Excuse me; can you move a bit the other way?”
“Oh sorry-I’m Sri Lankan!” he pompously said.

Krishanthi ANANDAWANSA