Reviewed by Indeewara Thilakarathne

What picture shall I draw
On the 54th page
Of your life today ?
A sea gull
Flying beyond the horizon
And a lonely boat down the sea
Sailing ?

Yes, the sea gulls
Still flying and flying beyond
Unnoticing the lonely boat
Which is sailing and sailing.

Pon Ganesh

Birthdays are happy and memorable occasions. However, the poet says he does not know which picture to draw on the 54th birthday. A sea gull is flying beyond the horizon and a lonely boat sails in the sea. The poet skilfully compares the lonely person who celebrates his 54th birthday to a sea gull and a boat. The poet has used simple diction and the poem is noted for its economy of expression.

To the lady...

To the lady who prayed for me at the beginning of my illness (cancer)
You told me once there are people who are worse off than we
If you go around the area once, it's true you will see
That is a way to console your mind and it is same with me
It is always good to show kindness, love and sympathy and it won't cost any fee

Please listen to my dear
To your humble prayers, dear god lend his ear
At your request to him, I really did not fear
Consequently I was directed to the clever doctors here

I was operated in two thousand and two
Prof. D assisted by a crew
Attention of a cancer specialist a well trained nurse drew
Sadly, after sometime, to the other world she flew

Eight years since then, I lived without fear
Oh, God, I've now reached, the beginning of next year
It is with the help of God and others of course my dear
I am still alive, though my death may be very very near

I am grateful to all, for everything they have done
I have truly now passed, three score years and ten
By another five and a little more and it is really no fun
I now take this chance, to thank everyone

Death-to die -why should anyone fear
Only the pain, if any, one should really fear
Festive season is around the corner
Now it is time to send my greetings
'Cause, anytime I may depart, leaving all you here
So well in advance, I wish you a happy new year

Gunasekara Hiripitiya (Cancer patient)

The poet, a cancer patient, dedicated this poem to the lady who prayed at the beginning for his recovery. The poet has been living with cancer for over eight years and wishes to thank the lady who prayed for his wellbeing. The poem is noted for its genuinely in expression.

A young man alive in death

Once I was young,
Full of promise.

Then, with four companions,
Older, wiser, and stronger than me,
I ventured into an unknown place.

The climate mild,
The sea calm and friendly;
Fish plentiful,
Our boat invincible.

The engine beat, strong
as the beat of our hearts:
Then failed.

The sea bore us to places
We did not wish to go.
In this space of terror
The sun was friend and foe.

Only the sun by day,
And the moon, cloud-hid, by night,
Heard our helpless cries,
Saw us drift away.

Messages passed by open ears,
But fish fell to our lines.
Ships, stars, passed.

Four months passed;
Four friends passed,
One by one.

Rain brought new life;
My parched body renewed,
My heart beat fresh and strong.

I try to remember how it was:
To forget means oblivion.

I see my sun-blackened face,
Gaunt, haunted,

The realm of darkness on my brow -
Staring at me from the pages
Of a Sunday newspaper.

When I sleep, I awake.
I try to forget what was taken from me.

Faith J Ratnayake

The poem is about a miraculous survival of a young man who set sail with four others in search of greener pastures. Though the boat was strong so were the companions, the engine failed in the middle of the sea making the boat a mere drifting raft. The boat drifted aimlessly in the vast ocean for four months and the four companions also passed away. But the young man was lucky to be alive after a real life nightmare. In this narrative poem, the poet has skilfully recreated the emotional upheaval in the minds of the young man following a daring survival.

The Pearl

A land that's blessed
With a name so splendid
"The Pearl" it's called
By mostly all
Unique you stand, though minute on the map
Adorned in beauty and ancient history
Draped in tapestries of blues
Greens, earthy browns and yellows
You make us proud oh! Sri Lanka

The warmth and hospitality
That radiant smile
The culture of our Ancestors
Makes it a paradise

Surrounded by nature
And clear emerald water
You stand with clarity
And ancient history
Sigiriya stands as the eighth wonder
Once built by king Kasyapa for us all to see

Cascading water falls
Like sheets of wall paper
Makes one spell bound
At it's astounding beauty

The scenic beauty
That captivates mind, body and soul
Makes one sigh and gasp
With aspiration to linger and contemplate
And to gaze at the contour of hills
Adorned in a splendid green
That makes you chill

Golden and grizzled are your beaches
An esplanade to all to promenade
The water at night seems masquerading
With ships that she lulls
From yonder far

Ancient ruins now stand as pillars
Fierce battles fought
And fierce battles won
Conquered by great kings
of our mother land
Sri Lanka

Three decades of war
Has at last ended
Let's not forget our gallant soldiers
Who fought bravely
Amidst tribulations
Innocent blood
For us was shed
At what cost
No one could tell

Oh! Mother Lanka
We stand in awe
Vivid we are all
Knowing not how to
Recompense God
For this beautiful island
Sri Lanka

Mrs.Dilrukshi De Silva

In this long poem, the poet expresses her love for Sri Lanka. The poet describes peerless beauty of Sri Lanka and its artistic, cultural legacy. She also describes the supreme sacrifice that the soldiers made to protect territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation. The poem would have been more effective if the poet had paid attention to the metre and econ

Bhaavanaa meditation

An iridescence aurora covers the milky way
The harvest moon escorted by the star brigade
A leaf flies down to dip with the penstock
Bird sirens are deaf and the wind goes dumb

School of clouds upstreaming over sky ocean
Moon wave it herringbone over wetlands
A sleet embrace dry earth soothingly
Stars prick the horizon like needle points

A still cry of a doe hang on air
Like a holy tintinabulation of a temple
Branches of trees weeping down silently
Wind gap release it air very softly

The fermament wear the white cloud neckbond
A lonely falcon rest in its nest
The holy night utters the logos swiftly
Cirrus are gathering over the sky pavement

Unsullied azure is gleaming in soft
Dew drops are oozing second by second
A big banyan tree is standing in unshakened pose
The lucifer perambulate from east to west

First light shines from eastern horizon
"Ignis fatuus" moves with the colour of golden
Mingled and twisted of hedonic aspiration
This was really the holy meditation.

Jayasiri Perera

The meditation is a poem where the poet tries to capture the sublime nature of meditation. In essence, what he tries to say is that the meditation is nothing but the union of the soul with nature. The poet's exquisite description of nature from the milky way to the dawn suggests in no uncertain terms that man is also a tiny part of the vast universe and the meditation is fusion of man's soul with the universal power that is nature.

I can't remember

I can't remember your smiling face -
I can't remember your sweet voice
I can't remember your childish ideas -
But I can remember only one thing
- it is your name
When I'm happy it makes me cry -
When I'm sad it makes me happy
When I saw you last you were only three years
I know now you are nineteen years
I want to see you dear - It'll be million by chance
Because you live in NZ and I'm in sri lanka
I don't know if you remember me or not
But I know one thing
It is.........
I can't miss you
Because.......
I'm your beloved mother...

Yasasi Katugampola

The poem is a passionate plea of a mother to see her son who now lives in New Zealand. According to the poem, the child was separated from the mother when he was only three years old and the mother could hardly remember the child's smiling face, sweet voice but only the name. However, motherly love has no bounds and now the narrator wants to see her son who is nineteen years old. In an unpretentious voice, the poet expresses the motherly love towards a son.

Ode to Shakespeare

Every soul with flesh and blood
Indebted to your service greatly did
The Morris they played soaked with mud
Reverberates my mind for your work splendid

Plot you made to have Duncan killed
For the world to see evil-willed
Bottom that made Quince to do good
Revelled the Athens, to with Theu-Hip wed.

154 Sonnets that you wrote
Upside down the woman in situ.
Lyrics, blank and prose that taste
Reached the acme sans any paste

Changeling boy that Queen set garlands
Cowslips and the women that churn the milk to get butter
Puckish impulse of Oberon's jester
Make my pupils wonderstruck

"Shall I compare thee to an agent of God?"
Missioned to envision the world that bad
Be reborn into our world of mortals
Unfurl the myriad colours of petals

You are the soul of human race
Do you hear our diurnal praise?
Mesmerise the beauty of the diction you use
To place the earth in interplanetary muse

"The course of true love never did run smooth"
Enough for the world of Poets, lovers and lunatics
To every word, line and prose
Similes and metaphors came running in race

Tale of the fairy in summer of the mid
Tragedy of the men overwhelmed the world
Sonnets to the dark lady of your choice
Laura may steal the fragrance of rejoice

Bard of Stratford-on-Avon
Belongs to man, not to a land
A God-given asset to adorn the world
Revisit the earth "ere I go mad"

Piyadasa Rilagoda

The long narrative poem describes the life and times of Shakespeare and his contribution to English literature. The poet says that Shakespeare does not belong to Strafford-on-Avon but to the entire humanity. The author has cited different works of the Bard to vindicate the rich cannon that Shakespeare produced.

Epitaph of a butcher

"Here rests a soul of, a sanguine life...."

Season of compassion
(Tribute to my heavenly Father)
"Lord I look at the far horizon,
contemplating on your creation.
I look back at my faded steps of time,
and see your love following me.
Father,guide me
for I do not know,
things to come.
But I know you're always
there for me!"

Tharindu Jayamanna

The poem is about an imaginary epitaph of a butcher. The epitaph commences with the sarcastic remark that 'Here rests a soul of, a Sanguine life'. The butcher is always 'contemplating on Lord's creations' to earn his daily bread. However, the butcher is confused as to what will happen to him after death but certain that God was there for him to help. The poet uses ironic language to describe the