Five Poems
by Indunil Madhusankha

 

 

Waiting for that Beautiful Day to Dawn

 

Do you ever reminisce?

The endearing times we spent together

sitting on a bench in the park

amidst the towering trees

replete with yellowish jacaranda cascading down

Or how we drew figures on the sand

with the tips of our fingers

while wandering along the sea belt

 

You promised me

caressing my hands

that you would never let go of them

And, one day, you would clasp my arm

and walk with me to the farthest horizon

Thus we dreamt of the dawn of a beautiful day

 

Yet, it didn’t take that long for you

to fade from my sight

Along with those sketches on the sand

melting away in the harsh waves

that abruptly broke on the shore

 

And I have no idea,

how incorrigible my heart is

The harder I try to refrain from lingering

The more I find myself immersed

Despite the awareness of the bitter truth,

I keep praying again and again

waiting for that beautiful day to dawn

 

 

 

 

My Kitten, So Adorable and Vivacious

 

Whenever I step on the backyard

for my habitual evening walks in the garden

I can see his beady eyes popping swiftly

amidst the greenish leaves of a bush

Or his big brown tail

wagging quite hastily beneath the hedge

while getting his guts ready

with his usual stalking postures

to cling onto my leg

 

Then, he would rush to me

very fast, as if in a flash,

and would gently bite my toes

So, I can feel the teasing touch

of his milky white teeth

As I get my foot away,

he would abruptly lay down on the path

with his furred limbs pointing upwards

while sweeping the sands with his

restless tail, almost like a fan

 

But all his valour falls apart

at sudden unexpected encounters

with the neighbourhood dogs passing by

What a funny and laughable scene,

to see his furry tail blooming into

goose bumps like a fire cracker

 

Oh, I love him so much,

for all the lavish delight

that he bestows me with

My kitten, so adorable and vivacious.

 

 

 

 

 The Lamentation of a Mother

 

“Amma, when I come the next time, 

  prepare me some Welithalapa.”

  Saying thus you left for work

 

  But all of a sudden like one of your

  most remarkable surprises

  You came home deposited in a reddish wooden box,

  meritoriously adorned with white coloured flowers

 

  I fanned your face with a handkerchief

  just to chase the flies away

  And caressed your forehead gently

  putting some tufts of hair to the top of the head

  You were our only son, the greatest treasure of ours

 

  As you were so catching and handsome a young man

  and an influential commander in the Army

  We had dreamt of a grand wedding ceremony for you

  of sublime calibre

  with the accompaniment of music

  Yet I heard the smoothing rhythm

  of neither the violin nor the piano

  except the deafening cacophony of brownish iron horses

  that they called a respectable gun salute,

  and the lachrymose craws of the participants

  I can remember,

  unlike the others I didn't weep or whimper

  except at the moment the telephone glided from my hand

  hearing the very news!

 

  I curse it,

  the horrible death messenger

  

  Huge banners of milky white colour

  fluttered in the air

  On them in plain black letters

  inscribed the cliché, “Anichchāwatha Sankhāra.”    

 

  Your coffin submerged slowly in to the grave

  I exclaimed

  clamouring and wriggling to loosen the clasp

  that mitigated against my movement,

  you could not be in that gloomy pit all alone

  Yet the gathering was deaf

 

  They say that now I am going mentally out 

  I am neither crazy nor violent

  But definitely, so should be those war-mongers

 

  Oh, forgive me, my putha, my golden gem,

  for not having made Welithalapa for you.

 

Glossary

Amma – Mother  

Anichchāwatha Sankhāra – A part of a Pali verse with the meaning, “everything is subject to decay having been created from perishable bases.”   

 Putha – Son     

 Welithalapa – A Sri Lankan sweetmeat made of rice, sugar, and coconut

 

 

 

 

A Thanksgiving for the Four-Legged Companion

 

Walking along the messy street

that led to the green

I would halt for a moment

and sit on the bench

that stood beside the canal

to peep at the eyes of the strangers

who passed by

to immerse myself in the nostalgic sentiments

to ponder over how cruel life had been

Only to be awaken by the rattle of the chain

gripped in my hand

My puppy with its warm canine whimpers

and soft howls

would alarm me

while wagging its tail restlessly

I would suddenly recover

from the figment of the wild imagination

that could well jeopardize the whole soul

As my puppy would tickle my toes

with its tiny tender tongue

That soothing feel, that very intimacy

would make me want to start walking again

to the green

Thank you puppy,

for not letting me cease to be!

 

 

 

Humans or Beasts

 

 “Yesterday's clash claimed thirty lives of the terrorists,

 The nation's acclaim to our valiant forces!”

 

 The dashing lady appearing in the TV

 uttered with her rosy lips in great rejoicing.

 

 Besides the efflorescence of

 high sounding crackers,

 whom did they kill?

 over whom did they win?

 Terrorists

 Nevertheless,

 they all are humans,

 having the same blood and flesh  

 What is it that separates terrorists from humans?

 

 Once the opposites go down

 the others organize a party

 with the glamour of dancing

 Not having even the least thought

 that the others are not beasts

 but humans they too are,

 their own brothers,

 though provoked

 Can you burst into jollity

 as your brothers remain flotsams in a blood sea?

 What an astonishment?

 

 Merry making in the

 celebration of fratricide

 The fashionable pleasures of our days!

 

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