In reply to the question:

When did your peace begin?

On the wall of the cafe by the immigrants' township
Ben Gurion's hair blowing in the wind
hung by the sweet doughball face of Oum Kulthoum
in the same kind of frame.
This was in 1955 or '6, and I thought if they hang
a man and a woman side by side
they must be a bride and groom. Ronny Someck TR: Vivian Eden

Here the Israeli poet Ronny Someck deals with the most intractable question of where did your peace begin? The poet replies in eloquent terms that the peace begins not in the portraits hung on empty walls but in the minds of the people. In 1955 or 1960 in a cafe by the immigrant's township, the portrait of Ben Gurion, father of the nation of Israel was hung along the portrait of Oum Kulthoum.

Oum Kolthoum was an Arab Egyptian singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Tamay ez- Zahayra village that belongs to El Senbellawein, she is known as the Star of the East (kawkab el-sharq). More than three decades after her death, she is still recognized as one of the Arab world's most famous and distinguished singers of the 20th century. The poet in the last lines questions whether a man and a woman hang side by side would they be bride and groom. The poem is marked for brevity of expression and masterly use of metaphor. It is an example of deep philosophical note encoded in few lines.

- Indeewara Thilakarathne

A nobody

Finally to be a nobody
Means there is no more use of camouflage ,
No more use for contrived disguise,
No more use for the harlequinade of spangled
Skirt and wand that make you invisible
To play tricks upon a makeshift stage of the mind
No more use for buffoonery.
No more use for role-playing in the
Gladiatorial combats in the vast amphitheatre
Of this world where flesh is lifted off the
Body-frame in bloodied shreds.
No more use of puny shields
For protection from that keen dagger
Plunging into the body of man or beast.
Tongues aimed like deadly missiles
To cause conflagrations that leave
Brick and stone in smouldering ruins,
Smoking debris enveloping in plumes
The suffocating breath strewn on common
Streets, dismembered limbs and mangled flesh.
Finally then, to be a nobody
In the discovery of anonymity
Is to deflect the hostile barbs from
The swift arrow meant to main and hurt.
Expose instead the contrived poses mercilessly
Stripped off which conceal the mountebank
Of all those vain pretensions of innocence.
In death, the victimis and victimiser's blood
Mingles, flows freely in streaming channels into
A common pool where there's no distinguishing
Of who the murderous suicide bomber was
From charred remains of whatever once
Was human, whether the casual passer-by or hurried traveller.
The hoi-polloi or innocent bystander.
Finally to be a nobody
Lies in the anonymity of death and oblivion. Jean Arasanayagam

********

Here in this poem, the poet eloquently describes what it means to be a nobody. It is a process of shedding off one's attributes including the name, fame, identities gathered throughout life. It is the death the leveller which makes one's fame and identity withered into thin air. When suicide bomber blows off himself or herself, 'victims and vicimiser's blood mingles, flows freely' into a common pool. In the last couple of lines, the poet sums up that 'to be nobody' 'lines in the anonymity of death and oblivion'. The long narrative poem is a fine analysis of life on the stage of world. The poet uses simple diction with appropriate metaphors from life to arrive at the conclusion. - Indeewara

Human rights?
 

I got my plate...
Only one curry, no fish... but her plate...
"No fish in my plate", I asked...
"Shut up, this is a camp not your home"
Only pretty girls have that privilege, not ugly like me...
I sat on the bench...
O, That fat dark man... How much I hate him...
He always kept eye on me...
What a disgusting look...
"Hurry up child, go and get the medicine for appa
Before it's finished"...
I rushed and joined the queue for medicine...
"Anna, pass the ball", my brother was shouting...
He was playing cricket with friends...
I passed the paper ball...
This must be the very last page of all my note books...
I walked slowly...
"Human Rights?"
What's that?...
White skinned tall lady
Always utter such strange words...
I squeezed into our hut.... - Kumari Alokabandara

******

The poet questions the very notion of 'human rights' among the lives of the refugees. The refugees are lined up to receive medicine and meals. One girl who is apparently a vegetarian does not want fish in her plate. But there is no choice for her. Thus, the poet portrays a life in a refugee camp where the very notion of human rights is alien. This is brilliantly manifested in the lines "Human Rights?" "What's that?...". For them, "Human Rights" is something 'white skinned tall lady' always utters. The poem is marked for its unpretentious voice and brilliant portrayal of fractured life in a refugee camp. - Indeewara