Poems by Sri Lankans about life, nature, love, hate, war and many more……
Uninvited, hither we came
And, without leave, departed hence.
What reason here for agony
Other than regret, as we shall meet again?
I crossed many rivers and mountains
Obstacles overcome with nary a care.
During my earthly journey,
Hope did not hurt anyone in my path.
I plead, my friends or foes
Do not hinder my ascent to the Heavens
Thro’ love or longing, other than regret.
Remember me, as I will remember you
Across that golden shore.
– Chris Defonseka
She lay surrounded by the silver moonlight
On the dark, soft grass, staring at space
Trying to count the infinite stars
Could life be more beautiful?
Her laugh was like the summer,
It melted every cold heart
She was full of courage and determination
Her beauty won many hearts
But a real girl isn’t perfect
And a perfect girl isn’t real.
A drop of blood turns the white snow red
A speck of dust turns pure water brown
She had troubles, sorrows and burdens too
For the world is not a wish granting factory
Now she lay on crisp, scratchy white sheets
Imprisoned by the dull walls of a hospital ward
There were dreams and plans for her future,
Her path to success had not yet been stepped on
Till the doctor told her gravely,
She had only one hour more
Tears did not flow from her bright eyes
For what good would that do?
Amidst sad goodbyes and sorrowful farewells
She drew in her last breath
Amidst wails and weepings of despair
She left to meet her king, eternal
Though she was just another patient,
One in a million deaths
Her death was mourned, her smile was longed for
A red rose, the epitome of love, trampled
The sun is missed only when it snows
She was loved only when she was let go
But shattered pieces and splinters still lie on the floor
A broken glass can never be repaired.
– Lavanya de Mel
බොල් අඳුර ගලා’විත් කවුළු දොර අබියසට
මට රවා නින්ද අරගෙන ඉගිළ යන විටක
සෙමින් එකිනෙක සැලෙන පොත් පිටු ද අතර ඔබ
කවි වැලක් සේ පෙනුනි අකුරු අතරෙහි රැඳුන
මොහොතකට කවුලු දොර දෙස බලා සිනාසුන
හිරිකඩය සුලං රැලි පෙළා මා ගත රැඳුන
හදිසියේ අවදි වුණ විලස මා ඔබ දෙසම
දෙනෙත් නොපියා බලා සිටි අයුරු දෝ මතක
පොතේ පිටු අතර රැඳි දහස් පද වැල් අතර
සිහි නොවුනි ඔබව මට මෙබඳු මොහොතක මිසක
එහෙත් මේ හදිසියේ මන්ද ඔබ මා හදට
පිවිසුනේ ඇද හැලෙන පොහොන් වැස්සක් ලෙසට
එදා අවුරුදු ගණන් පෙරදි මා ඔබ හමුව
ගෙවී ගිය සොඳුරුතම මිහිරි වූ ගී වැල්ය
දිනෙන් දින ඉරි තැලී ගිය මගේ හදවතම
අදත් ඔබ නමින් ඉඩ තවත් ඇත්තේ මන්ද
ලෝකයේ කොතැන හෝ මා නොහඳුනා තැනක
සරණු ඇත ඔබත් පෙර මතක නටබුන් අතර
ඉගිල යන පවනකට ඔබෙ හුස්ම එකලු කර
හදට සුසුමක් විලස ගලා යයි හද තුලට
මීට දිගු කලක පෙර මිහිදන්ව ගිය මතක
සොයා හද බිම කණිමි පහන් වන තුරා රැය
කොහේ හෝ නිසංසල තැනක සැඟවී යලිත්
පෙනෙයි ඔබ දහස් ගණනින් ලියූ අකුරු මැද
ආදරය තනිකඩව ඉකි බිඳින සුසානෙක
ඔබ නමින් ලියැවේවි ජීවිතේ සොහොන් කොත
පුංචි ඉටි පහනක්ව යලිත් හිත ළඟට’විත්
මතක මිටියාවතම එළිය වී හිඳිනු ඔබ….!!
– Hashintha Vidanapathirana
Don’t cry me a river,
When I’m gone…
as you
stare at the patterns
that my presence
has left….
“Laugh!”
It’s my wish for,
You are not gone…
Let your laughter roam
in it’s angelic form…
Sing me a song
to soothe my soul…
Close your eyes
Yet
open your heart
Don’t fall!
Point out a star
Or two for me,
Never fret
that you failed
to get me
The moon….
Don’t
Cry me a river
Don’t cry
at all..
But
LAUGH ME A SKY
where
my soul can roam….
– Phusathi Liyanaarachchi
(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