Hindrances
Your mind
Develop it to be a pool of crystal clear water
Filled to the brim.
Then, it would mirror the stars, moon and sun,
The blue sky or the green glade around,
Absorbing, comprehending and reflecting
The pristine truth of all phenomena
And achieve that clarity of vision
Leading to insight.
If pretty dyes of sense desire colour the clear water,
You would be attracted by the medly of colours
Lose clarity and depth of vision.
Entranced by the intricacy of colours
And fleeting perceptions
Life would flow along a frivolous path.
If the water in the pool reaches the boiling point
Caused by anger and aversion,
Turbulent bubbles would give rise to violent reactions
Hiding the depth and clarity of vision,
Obstructing your onward journey along the path.
Sometimes sloth and toper would rule the mind,
Like a dense, thick algae,
Covering the pool of crystal clear water
Turning the mind away from realities.
When restlessness and worry seep in,
The mind is agitated as a win-swept pool
Obscuring the depths of clear vision.
In which wisdom would never arise.
When doubt like muddy water overwhelms your mind.
Clear vision and clarity would be concealed.
The cloudiness and the murkiness of the water in the pool
Could be changed to crystal clear water
By a wise man.
– Sunila Nanayakkara
Overlooked injustice
Killing is a sin, a crime
Stealing or robbing too is a sin, a crime
But if someone steals or robs the milk from one’s mother
We are used to ignore or overlook it
And hardly see it as a sin or a crime.
During the entire night
My neighbour keeps the calf aloof from its mother cow
The hungry calf looks on fondly
Eagerly wanting to be snugged, loved, fed.
Early morning mu neighbour frees the calf
Letting the calf go to its mother
and the calf dashes to its mother
To quench the night – long thirst, hunger
With nutritious, juicy, wholesome milk.
But that joy is momentous
Like a fiery, very short spring
With unbounded pleasure
The calf pushes mother cow’s udder with its muzzle
And soon starts sucking the much awaited milk.
But the sensational spree lasts only a few seconds
My neighbour drags the calf away from the mother
And ties it to a close by stump.
Then stealing or the real robbing starts
Robbing mother cow’s milk
Like a mean criminal
He extracts her milk mercilessly
While the mother looks on hopeless, sadly
Heartlessly, my neighbour squeezes, pulls the nipples of the udder
Till the last drop of milk trickles
And finally leaves the calf free
Like a mission–completed satisfied, criminal.
The calf rushes to its mother
But for what?
Just to lick the milk smeared nipples
And tries to suck whatever remains in the udder.
Exploitation reigns everywhere
Deliberately noticed or unnoticed.
– D.H. Shanthiratne
A fruitless wait, a broken promises
Mr. K. Arumainayagam a historian and a Senior Assessor of Inland Revenue was brutally murdered at Atthidiya during the 1983 communal riots. He was on his way back to the camp from a friend’s house where he got his children’s clothes washed and collected some food.
His wife, who waited for her husband’s return, refused to accept the news that he was murdered. She lived in a “home” in Colombo and then in a “home” in Jaffna, and passed away a few days ago after waiting for the husband’s return for 34 years.
To: Mrs. Parimalam Arumainayagam
It was darkness
A thick eternal veil of darkness
That shrouded you
For thirty four long years
A fruitless wait
A broken promise
He left the camp for the displaced
with a promise to come back
with food, water and cleaned clothes
for you and your children.
No one dared to tell you
His encounter with the murderous mobs
Unaware you waited for his return
Those waiting eyes wide open
That never saw a bright star
poised on a distant cloud.
You missed the beauty
Of perfect mornings
When the dew soaked green tender grass
Shaped carpets of frosted grass
In brilliant sunshine.
In the garden
Leaves rippled in a light breeze
Singing you a song of comfort
That you never heard.
Perched on the trees around
Birds sang a melancholy song
Your ears refused to welcome.
Flickering and reverberating
Concussions of thunder and lightning
Died away unheard.
Yet, many a sleepless night
You listened to an uncertain sound
Of footsteps approaching
Nearer and nearer and near,
And then, vanished away into the silent night.
Silken rays of the moon
Leaking through the sleeping tree tops
Touch the mallihai flowers
Spreading its sweet scent
By your husband’s grave
You never felt the scent
Bitter were the sweets
Cold were the nights
Those once beautiful eyes
Smeared with Anjana
Shrank with time
Yet, still open with hope
Closed for ever
With a single tear
To see him
In an unknown realm.
– Senarath Bandara Subasinghe.