The Last Lecture
I took my customary seat,
Next to the window,
And fixed my gaze,
Upon the pot-bellied, bald-headed man,
A lecturer, a father and a friend.
'You absented yourself in the morning session
Because you went to meet your fiancee?'
'No, sir, I just had to go to the post office....'
'I see, I see, it is the post-mistress
Who is your fiancee then?'
At his ready wit,
We all roared with laughter.
He began the lecture,
And explained the concepts,
And discussed the nuts and bolts,
Of leadership.
With my thoughts on the wing,
I heard but little,
Of what he explained,
At length.
Tireless time flying
Like a bat out of hell,
Drew the lecture to a close.
At long last, we knew,
It's time to say good bye.
He didn`t cry,
But his voice shook with emotion,
As we fell at his feet,
And sought his blessings.
It was queer and out of the custom, though.
We were all deeply sorry,
That the moment of parting had arrived so soon.
But time's, we knew,
Was an irreversible course.
And our tears, shed, hidden or reserved,
Would not count.
Jayashantha Jayawardhana
For D. J. D. Jayakodi
Childhood
 Babyhood brings fond memories
Sunshine, dazzling stars, dew drops
Fallen from the skies bring peculiar sensation
The soft wings of a butterfly
The melody of a cuckoo bird
And
The lustrous colours of a rainbow
Such trivia
Puzzled us for ages
We were so mischievous those young days
Those Moms had a hard time taking care of us
We were often called wayward
That's what childhood is...
All about
Misunderstand us not
Saumya Sri Chaturanga Aloysius
Silence
 Silence is silent.
But, it can silently tell a lot.
Silence may be due to no words,
Sometimes due to lot of words struck.
May be due to negligence,
As well, due to lot of care.
It may be due to anger,
Sometimes due to unconditional love too.
Silence is nothing to somebody,
But, it can be lot of hurting to another.........
Janaka Galappaththi
Cheerful Past
The childhood I had
Such a cheerful time,
Along the narrow paths through woods
We ran, we hid, we played,
Multihued flowers we picked,
Yummy fruits we swallowed.
Still I run through those flowery lanes
In nights, in my dreams,
Still I'm the little lass,
Still I gain that pleasure I had,
That dream I never want to see an end.
Bitter truth wakes me up, reminds me who I am,
Lost in a world huge,
Heartless, riches oriented
Burdened with thousands duties.
Still I run, I hide, I play
But the joy never comes my way.
Each day I wait till dark
To roam in my blissful dream,
To be that tiny playful lass,
To pitch away the duties I have.
Shirandi Nisansala Ekanayake
Darkness
 When the last rays of sunshine are gone
And the world starts to engulf in darkness
My heart shivers in fear and pain.
I try not to think, not to remember
But all my efforts are in vain.
The darkness that took you away from me
Has come again.
In that darkness I lost you forever
Never to see your kind face again...
Never to hear your lovely voice....
You just got lost in the darkness
And every time the darkness engulfs this world
My heart shivers in pain...
Nisansala Dharmasena
Dedicated to all those who lost their
lives due to the war
Freedom
 The gloomy sky cries
Children dance in the pouring shower
The birds rush to shelter
The toads rejoice
Breaking its monotony.
No lightning nor thunder
But in my heart
For the window opened yet barred by the grill
The door stays shut, locked.
My feet stay dry
As dry as my soul
I close my eyes
And I wish I could touch the rain.
Tharanga Goonetilleke,Juilliard Opera Centre, New York
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