Tagged: Mother’s 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

 

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

Lucky Seven

Nine months in cozy womb

Now thrust into a world unknown

On seventh July nineteen seventy seven

A beautiful girl, they exclaim

What a lucky baby, lucky sevens

All the way

Mum’s songs painted a picture of

A midnight blue roof

Sparkling with glittering jets

Silken butterflies in a quest for sweet honey

Resting their svelte feet on velvet petals

Ivory pearls on an ocean bed

Guarded by stately sea horses

What are these treasures

Compared to the warmth of

A mother’s bosom

And the gentle tick of her heartbeat

Music which lulled me to sleep

For nine months

Poem about Mother's Love

-Keerthi Wijekulasuriya