Catalyst

The brawny lion king
Holding a sword
Nobly awaited
Biding his time
Not a fur stirred
At a time
When this sea-girt land
Where Lord Buddha visited thrice
Was on the edge of a precipice,
When it was teetering on the brink
Of breaking into two,
When it was in turmoil
He stepped out
His bedewed eyes
With patriotic fervour,
Personal charisma
Lofty ideals, spiritedness
And
Eloquent speeches
Attracted one and all
Black and white,
Yellow and brown,
Big and small
Cor! Behold!
Our latter-day king
Who has pacific aspirations
Is sashaying
Along the red carpet
Brandishing the sword
He held
Bursting with ineffable exultation
He's the catalyst deified
Who emphasized on reconciliation
Heading to a Brave New World
We,
All of us
Breathe in this small isle
Are beholden to him

Nandani P.R. Wickramasingha Teacher, Sunethra Mahadevi Vidyalaya Papiliyana

The poet echoes the general feeling of elation and sense of great relief the people experienced when a leader like a lion salvaged the country from the scourge of terrorism. The terrorists were hell bent on separating the country into two and the leader stepped into the scene at the right time.

The poet describes the leader as ambitious, courageous and a kind person who envisioned a multi-ethnic pluralistic society. The leader is described as a 'latter day king'. The poet uses down to earth diction enriched with appropriate metaphors to express the leader who salvaged the nation. - Indeewara Thilakarathne

The blessing...

Tiny droplets fall from heaven
When angels water the flowers
Drench the trees and grassy hills
Keep falling hours and hours

Gush along the brooks and rivers
Nourish fields and plains
Run across the cracked bare Earth
Sooth its lasting pains

When distant rumbling occurs
Earthlings beam with delight
To see the silvery sketches
On gray laced gloomy skies

By Ruwandhi Rajasinghe

In a matter-of-fact language, poet describes the common phenomenon of rain and the bliss-full atmosphere that it creates nourishing the earth and supporting life on it. The poet is able to portray a downpour. At times he personifies the earth to drive home the fact that it continuously gets nourished from the rain

Indeewara Thilakarathne

"Stars" through "Free Eyes"

You are free to say and show,
But,
don't compel and pursue us.
You make stars, place them up
and
cover the real stars and their
True value.
What have your stars done for us?
Us; The Nation!
Do you care about it at all?
I'm really sorry about you;
you have hidden real Heroes
with your
Brave Stars.
Stars who don't have fear in stage
But,
in Death.
YOU
have not recognized the
Real Star
who is FEARLESS
in the arms of DEATH
and
who place
The Nation
Prior to SELF

Esala Erangi Malawithanthri Panadura.

The poem is about those brave Stars who made supreme sacrifice for the nation and its welfare. In an effective and perhaps, rather blunt manner questions of value of 'stars' who adore the stage. The true stars are those who place the nation before self and 'fearless in the arms of the death'.

The poet uses simple language and questions in an effective manner the general perception of ' Stars' - Indeewara Thilakarathne