A New Year

Is an unexamined life
not worth living?
The dawn of a new year is
a time for reflection.
A chance for introspection,
An opportunity to continue,
our private evolution.

A new year gives hope,
to new beginnings,
it opens doors to new opportunities.
It is an opportune time for a
personal stock take and
a chance to evaluate our retrospect.
A new year is full of promise.

But after the anticlimax of
All the celebrations,
Is an unexamined life
still not worth living?
Dhammika Jayamaha

The narrator tells how diverse persons mark New Year and that it is a time for retrospection and personal evaluation. However, after the celebration what would be left is emptiness and void in life which compels us to think about the worthiness of life.

Best will come

Sooner or later
the best will come thy way
keep smiling
keep shining
A smile can take you a long way

Bertholamuze Nisansala Dharamsena

The poem is about positive thinking. The poet says that sooner or later fortune will come about and be happy. The poem is noted for its brevity in expression.

The Woman

It was a scorching time by mid-day
As I was walking down the street that day
A grimace sight caught my eye
That I never did see before
An old woman seated
On the pavement street

She gazed at me
With a rigid look
Beckoning to me she called me

As I walked to her side
I asked her why
A cup of tea and a bun if you please
But only if you can

I looked at her hands
Her face her feet
They were old and wrinkled
and nothing left to see

Maybe she was a spinster
Or married one day
But I dare not ask her
In case she gets enraged

But I knew for sure
She was a lonely soul
And I knew she had
No one to know

So I went into the baker's shop
To buy her some food
A bun I bought 'cause tea they had none

The poor old soul
Stretched out her hands
Grasping on to the bun
Like she'd never seen any before
Her stomach was rumbling
So I could hear
Of hunger and thirst I could tell

Then I gave her a note
For her to keep
She said to me smiling
Thank you and bless you sweet lady
I spoke kind words in return
Don't thank me
But thank God instead

Dilrukshi De Silva

In this narrative poem, the poet describes the plight of a beggar woman. She was alone and the poet expresses her heart out that the beggar woman would have been a spinster or some one who had married. It was clear that she had no one to look after her in her old age. The poem ends with a note that one should be thankful to God for what they have.

Candle of Hope

At the dawn of the chilly morning, on the Duruthu Full Moon Poya day,
In a soft corner of my heart, I lit a little candle of hope.
With the flame of it, in the endless sky at night,
I journeyed through my thought ship.
Peaceful Duruthu full moon enlightened the entire planet.
Through the sheen of the enchanted moon, I saw a tiny little dream.
Wild animals were hustling beneath the Mount Everest.
Unforgettable event would be starting within a very few seconds.
Bengali tigers, Kiwis, African Elephants, Kangaroos and British Royal horses,
And their followers were in the front line.
Kandyan chieftain led the Majestic Lions.
The entire animal world was turbulent by seeing powerful Lions.
"Were they shaping up to a beautiful Pageant?"
Whip crackers were led by: Malinga, Nuwan and Dilhara.
With their whipping bouncers, they paved the way to the pageant.
Fire balls were turned by: Murali Rangana and Ajantha.
And for their turning spirals, opponents lost their balance.
Torch bears and conch shell blowers were led by: Dilshan, Taranga and Chamara.
With roaring sounds of square cuts, and dashing beams of Dilscoops,
They overjoyed the succulent spectators.
Fielders like Chamara, bore shields as flag bearers.
With their powerful sweeps, boundary line was swept for the blossom.
Kandyan dancers were led by: Mathews, Tisara and Rangana.
Spectators were puzzled with their somersaults and dances.
Majestic tuskers were led by: Tilan, Sanga and Mahela.
With colourful tons of their scores, they outshone the batting pattern.
With fluttering lion flags and illuminated fireworks,
Agile spectators were made jubilant.
Lion kings with leading Kandyan Chieftain paraded in the magnificent pageant,
And enthroned the crown,
As if the Majestic Tusker in the Kandy pageant.

W.M.Sumithra Weerasekara

In this long narrative poem, the poet describes his prayers for the victory. Though the poet describes of a pageant it is not the kandyan pageant but the Sri Lankan cricket team's march towards victory at the world cup.

Solitary wood apple tree.....

The solitary wood apple tree
In the nocturnal silence of the dawn
I slide into the nearby woods
Against the backdrop of a darkened sky,
When the sun is still a-slumber
Stands a solitary wood apple tree
In a miniature puddle of dew...

The stillness filled my heart with joy
In a tremulous quivering note
Like a startling symphony
Set on soft tranquil strains
As the solitary tree lost in the wood,
Listening to its song...

I hear the hooting of the owls
Eerie, in distant hills
Making loneliness more profound,
As the solitary tree in the dawn
As unfinished melody the wind whispers
To waken its sleeping leaves

The dizzy heights of satiety,
The tempo rising like the sun!
Clashing of breakers in the ocean,
In the shores beyond
Yet, stands the solitary wood apple tree
Unmoved, unscathed and infinite..
But the emptiness of tomorrow
The finale to listless dreams!
Such as the other trees that precede
Leaving behind the solitary tree
But the crashing crescendo of time will wipe
The lonely wood apple tree and me ...

Gwen Herat

Although it seems that the poem is about a solitary wood apple tree in the nearby wood, the poet in a way compares the wood apple tree to her lonely soul. At first the poet feels jubilant at the stillness surrounding the wood apple tree. It's like 'startling symphony' as the wood apple tree lost in the wood and 'listening to its songs'. The poet hears Eerie sounds such as that of owls which make solitariness more profound. However, towards the end of the poem, the poet says that tomorrow's emptiness would leave the solitary wood apple tree alone. But the 'crashing crescendo of time' will wipe out both the wood apple tree and the poet. The poem is noted for its in-depth philosophy and the sheer beauty of expressions.

Beseeching...

Beseeching ...
Corner of the dusty street
A woman with rugged clothes
Sitting under a Bo-tree
Looking for a shadow ....

Child on her lap, crying on and on
Couldn't find milk from her breast
Thousands of people go along the street
But no one to give anything

Man got off a car,
Rushed towards the Bo-tree
With a pot full of milk....
And murmur a stanza with devotion
Pour milk on to the tree,

Milk pour down like a stream,
Along the sandy ground
Unknowing therein a gaunt hand,
Beseeching life for a child ...

K.M Rangila Kusangi

The poet juxtaposes two incidents; one a child crying as it could not get milk from mother's breasts while another pouring milk onto the Bo-tree. What is pathetic is that precious milk is absorbed by the ground while the child searches nourishment for life. The poet has used simple diction.

Gifted with the independence

"Behold and listen" my solitary reader,
Think twice, for the moment;
Who you are; what can you do?
Why you can do, where and how?

King "Dutugamunu" and others built this small Island
They built the country for us; not only for them,
Nowadays we are using them;
They brought independence and gifted it to all.

There were natural disasters;
As well as man made disasters,
Though, they built things for us.
Same as you have to do for the future generation......
Get together to achieve more.............with the independence
We are proud of being born in a country that is Sri Lanka........

Rohini Ekanayake

The poet urges the people to be patriotic like forefathers. It was they who built the nation and gifted it to the people. The poet says that Sri Lanakans should be proud of their country.

Drop that cigarette!

It was lovely to be with friends
Try your first cigarette and spirit into heavens
March into youth, and forget the childhood
Was it so cool to smoke this white shoot?
To belong to the gang you took the white stick
And loved your cigarette, over rice and bread
But it will cause you utterly sick
And rot your lungs every second that tick
Nicotine tar and all that harmful
Why not say NO and forget the awful?
Win your heart and demand control
Drop that cigarette! and then be cool

Dr Sujeewa Gunaratne

The poem is a plea for the youth who are addicted to smoking. Despite the Government's warning that smoking causes cancer, people who are addicted to smoking cannot get rid of the habit. The poet urges those who are addicted to smoking to drop the cigarette and enjoy life.