Life on the glittering sand

The sun is beating up
Hard on the golden sand
Where a bunch of fishermen
With hearts full of hopes
Struggling to pull out
The fishing net
With all their mighty strength
Up on to the coastal sand
Glittering in the sun
As if laughing behind
The poor souls
And the day's meal
Of each of them
And their spouses and the siblings
Depends upon
The catch they yield
Which is yet to come up
Out of the sea
Adorned with
Beauty and serenity
In this inter-monsoon season
Though it is a beautiful country sight
To a stranger of the town
To a fisherman of the village
It is indeed a struggle
To find their lives
Through the fishing net

- Inoka Shiranthi

The poet digs into the reality behind the sun-swept golden beaches and scene of fishermen dragging the fishing net home. As correctly described, to an outsider, or perhaps, to a foreigner, the beautiful scene of dragging the fishing net ashore is just a play. But for the fishermen, it is a daily struggle for life. For their families are dependent on the catch. Their's is a life fraught with uncertainty. For them the sun-swept golden beaches recall not the peerless beauty of the emerald sea bathed in sun light but the hard struggle for life. The poet has used common place metaphor and a down-to-earth language. Perhaps, the life on the glittering sand may not be glitter as the beauty of the golden beaches. - Indeewara Thilakarathne

Photograph

Seeds of affection sown
On torridly dark days;
Sighing winds which turn the soul;
Sideways glances, tugging,
Calls to come closer and closer;
Stay still,
Stiller;
A pensive image
Activating minefields of
Unexplored ideologies;
Oh! see my face
In the glossy magazines;
Read these unrelentingly -
Odd interviews and
Eccentric exposes;
Say that no filament of brilliance
Existed before this,
But now star-burst into action,
I am to you a flicker of light,
Colour and focus;
If I adorn your Sunday Paper,
(Read *so* avidly),
Deciphering the intricate
Misgivings and tales
Of life on this island,
After years, spilling out
Of the rotten woodwork,
Like a sleek maggot
Morphing into a butterfly,
It is because I yearn
For your respect;
This recluse of the worst kind,
Now sits with the music makers
And the party goers,
Beaming from under sun hats
Shimmering in cocktail dresses;
Photo after photo
Simmering inside with
Somewhat the hope of
The debutante,
Waiting for a
Glimmer of appreciation....
From you.

Chamali Kariyawasam

The poet eloquently terms out the celebrity making industry in mass media. A 'photograph' in a newspaper would commence the process of one becoming a celebrity. In the first stanza, the poet briefly describes the process of taking a snap. Perhaps, taking the best aspect out of an ordinary soul. Soon, the `pensive' image assumes celebrity status and image adores cover of glossy magazines stirring scores of ideas in the mind of the readers, giving hopes to hopeless. The poet poses the question `Is it because yearning of respect and appreciation'. The poet uses an un-assumed diction and the idea is expressed with a single metaphor of a photograph and how it gives vent to the imagination of the readers.

- Indeewara Thilakarathne