Category: Love

sagara-palansooriya-blind

(An English translation of Sagara Palansuriya’s poem, “අන්ධ ළමයා” (Andha Lamaya) which is originally written in Sinhala)

They say, flowers are gorgeous and are of lovely shades
The things they speak of as they can see
I don’t understand, mother, so here I am to learn
Please explain to me, I don’t know these

Except the sweet fragrance of flowers, what is meant by a ‘colour’?
Nevertheless, I can also realize that the petals are delicate
Is there something called a ‘light’?
Mother, why is it that I can’t make sense of these?

I feel the heat during the day more than at night
Is there more of a difference than what I feel?
I can’t figure it out, because, they say, I am still a young boy
If so, I ask grievously, will I understand as I grow up?

I can always feel the pleasing softness of the petals
Whenever I caress them with the tips of my fingers
Yet, if there is really a ‘colour’ in flowers as they say
I am much worried that I can’t touch it with my hands

I have never enjoyed the thing that they call ‘beauty’
Neither with my nose and ears nor with my tongue and limbs
I wonder why I can’t perceive it even when you try to describe
Oh mother, I am so sad that it is too hard to tolerate

Mother, why are you shedding tears?
I can feel them trickling down my arm
Don’t cry, mother, don’t cry, I was just joking
Shall I rush and come back after hitting the boys who lied to me?

– Sagara Palansuriya (1908-1961)

– Translated by: Indunil Madhusankha

 

 

– The Original –

අන්ධ ළමයා

මල් ලස්සනයි හොඳ හොඳ පාටයි කීවා
පෙනෙනවා දකිනවා කියනා ඒවා
මොනවද අම්මෙ මම අහගන්නට ආවා
තෝරා දෙන්න මම දන්නේ නෑ මේවා

මල්වල හොඳ සුවඳ මිස පාටක් කොහෙද
ඒවා මොළොක් බව තේරෙනවා මටද
එළියක් කියා මොකවත් හෙම තියෙනවද
මට තේරුම් ගන්ට අම්මේ බැරි මොකද

උණුසුම දැනේ දහවල මට රැයට වඩා
වෙනසක් හෙම තියෙනවද මෙහි මෙයට වඩා
මට නොදැනෙන්නෙ මා කණ කොලුවෙකිලු කුඩා
ලොකු වෙන කොට දැනේවිද මම අසමි හඬා

ඇඟිලි තුඩට මල් පෙති වල ඇති මෙළෙක
මට දැනෙනවා එය අල්ලන හැම විටෙක
පාට කියා ඇත්නම් ගතියක් මලෙක
අම්මේ අත නොගෑවෙන එක තමයි දුක

ලස්සන කියන දේ නැහැයට වත් කනට
මගේ දිවට හරි මගෙ අත පය වලට
නොදැනෙන්නේ මොකද තෝරා දෙන කලට
ඉවසා ගෙන ඉන්න අම්මේ බැරිය මට

ඇයි අම්මේ අඬන්නේ මේ කඳුලු සලා
මට දැනෙනවා යයි මගෙ අත් දිගට ගලා
නාඬන් අම්මෙ නාඬන් මම විහිළු කළා
එන්නද ගොසින් බොරු කී කොල්ලන්ට තලා

[සුදෝ සුදු]

සිත්තම- කුමුදු තාරක

 

Grandma

poem about grandmother

Sweet as honey and short as a metaphor
Stubborn in style but mighty as ever
With a sea of wisdom she guides my way
My princess is you who blossoms my day
Charmingly calm and blessed with elegance
She fulfills her routine with a touch of excellence
Enthralls my life with the majesty of her kinship
Touching my heart with love and fellowship
My pride is endless to express you’re mine
So accept this token of gratitude with shine
Now time to shout out who you are,
It’s none other than ‘You’ my darling “Achcha”

– Kalharie Pitigala

fathers-death-poem

(An English translation of Prof. Wimal Dissanayake’s poem, “තාත්තාගේ මරණය” (Thāththāge Maranaya) which was originally written in Sinhala)

Just as groping in the darkness
in search of a precious gem,
the doctor was looking for a drop of breath
left in father’s body.
With frightened eyes we peered at the scene
in utter stillness
My heart, restlessly moving
hither and thither
like a soft bud caught in a
whirlpool of wind
As motionless as a mountain
in bantering excitement
Dumbfounded like a stone,
quite motionless
Slowly,
the doctor raised his hand
and took a shaken look at the bystanders
who were around the bed
with eyes floating in a rivulet of tears
 
We waited earnestly
until a silver lining would appear,
as the doctor laboriously tried to watch us
with a haunting expression in his face
He failed,
and immediately turned his head towards the floor
The sky ached in vociferous thunder
while rains of tears welled out of eyes
and fell down on the floor
 
Pacifying the dark vibes
appeared the pale decorations
like a soothing balm!

– Prof. Wimal Dissanayake

– Translated by: Indunil Madhusankha

I’m sorry

tsunami-japan-poem

A rumble, a quake, the sound of disaster,
Shakes the earth; a sign from the master
Shaken people stand,
These are the people of Japan
They look at each other with confused faces,
None of them move from their places
There is a sound coming from the sea,
Terrified some move to see
Waves crash against the sand,
Getting bigger as they reach the land
Then the waves disappear back into the ocean,
And out in the sea is a wave growing bigger than ten men
Screams pour out of people’s mouths,
As people run towards the south
As the wave gets near,
People fill up with fear
Families separate in the run for safety,
Up on a hill is the safest place to be
Scrambling people climb this hill,
As others yell, curse and squeal
The time has come the wave hits the sand,
Those who don’t make it get swept away from the land
The wave destroys the land where they once stood,
They think to themselves we did what we could
So today we send our prayers to Japan,
The place where those few survivors stand.

– Jaya

Never Let Her Go

never-let-her-go-poem

 

Soaked in blood,
Her white cloak remains.
Not even a million drops of water
Will wash the stains away.
Masked by pain and tears,
Someone mourns.

A bright, burning flame
Snuffed out in an instant.
The lively sound of a heartbeat,
Silenced by death.

A deed so wrongly misjudged,
The price paid so high –
The pain too hard to fathom,
A rain of tears crashing down,
A mother loses her child.

The strength fading away,
The happiness for ever lost,
The joy in life no more,
The eerie silence that lingers,
A father mourns his little girl.

Sadness choking their thoughts,
That empty space at the dining table,
Where secrets, wishes, hopes and dreams
Can never be shared,
They weep for their sister.

Never forget her endurance,
Never doubt her bravery.
Embrace her fighting spirit,
Cherish her afterglow;
Remember her name
In every waking moment,
And never let her go.
And never let her go.

– Ayodhya Bandara Perera

When I first met you
I booked a room in your space
Together, we were a heavenly match…

Green valleys, with flowing waters
Yet, sometimes, impediments blocked our path…
But we were never afraid
Our love and togetherness, conquered all…

Two score years now gone by
Never noticed the passage of time
Especially, with you beside by my side…

Another year soon to be
I am, this time, leasing my room,
In your space, for the rest of my life…

The-Passage-of-Time-love-poem-by-Chris-Defonseka

– Chris Defonseka

The Love between two,
Seal with a Band of Gold,
To be secure & strong,
With the blessings of all,
The instant symbol of a marriage,
Is the Ring…

Begining or end hard to find,
Right or wrong within the ring will be pardon,
Even if it’s right out of the Ring will be harden,
It’s a thorn on a finger,
For a pair, who is always in anger,
For those who hold Love in their Hearts,
Till death they do part,
It’s the same Blessed thing,
The Gloden Wedding Ring…

Wedding-rings-in-fingers

-Tiny W. Sahabandu

Love

No one was there to love me when I’m alone,
except you…
No one was there to hug me when I’m cold,
except you…
No one was there to help me when I was in a trouble,
except you…
No one was there to kiss me when I needed a kiss,
except you…
No one was there to talk with me when I’m crying,
except you…
And today you are not here to be with me when I need you…
You are far away from me…
You are forever gone from me…
My love I’m here waiting for your return till I die…
But please remember how much I loved you…
Never changes on me whether you come to me or not…
Please remember that a little girl is crying for you…

Love Poem by Sachi joseph

-Sachi Joseph