In the Desert of Love
I hurried down the sidewalk
Holding my black umbrella over my head
Jostling and worming my way
Through a river of people
Headed for the bus stands
Some soaked in sweat and rainwater
Trickling down their backs and sides
And smelly as hell
As it drizzled misery in Pettah
On a busy Friday evening.
Remembering a shortcut to my destination
I turned abruptly and retraced my steps,
Picking my way through the same crowd
Still holding my black umbrella over my head.
Your familiar person struck my eyes
From the opposite direction;
You came up sauntering gazing ahead
More beautiful than ever
Through the throng of people
Crowding the sidewalk.
For a brief, very brief moment in the gathering dusk
Your face was to me what a beacon light
Would be to a ship that has lost its bearings
On the stormy seas.
Seeing you seeing me seeing you
My heart billowed like a sail
In the tempest of my love
But I kept walking
As it drizzled misery in Pettah
Holding my black umbrella over my head.
Turning back after a few steps
I hoped you’d turn back too,
But knew you wouldn’t.
Ours was a break-up
Set in stone
That bit was all too clear to me
in the impenetrable indifference
Your white lotus of a visage registered.
Still, your sculpturesque serenity startled me
And set my heart aflutter.
In the drizzle of misery
All my hope of a reunion dissolved
Like a teardrop in rainwater.
In its stead,
Momentarily,
A sepulchre of despair
Erected itself
Impervious, now I know,
Even to the time’s all-healing touch.
Words: Jayashantha Jayawardhana
****
Sun God; Mankind’s best friend
Mankind survives because of the Sun’s rays
And mother’s feed – Maxim Gorky
Had we had no sunlight
What would have been our plight?
Although being distant from mankind
Umpteen number of light years away,
The Sun displays her unhesitant kindness
To make our world devoid of darkness
Flashing her powerful torch around
Is a classic case in point for the above
She determines the day and night
With respect to all human beings
And with disrespect to none
Being concerned about their day time chores,
Diminishes her flash light gradually to make it dark
As if compelling some, night time to rest
At the same time flashes her rays elsewhere
To be really considerate about others
Is an example to show her compassion to all
Without being biased to anyone
Like a mother looking after her children
She rotates her face as if to be concerned
about her sibling planets who revolve about her
Desiring the need of her warmth
At disastrous times,
When human beings are affected by floods
The sun cannot resist the temptation of being emotional
And thereby absorbs up the excess water
Stores them in the pockets in the clouds
To be issued to mankind when it is so warranted
And where exactly it is necessarily desired
Like a loving mother, feeding her children
The sun spreads her nutrient rays free
For the vegetation and fruits to grow
To help evaporate mankind’s hunger
For the survival of people in the world over
Exhibiting her intimacy towards them
And hence; It’s a safe and reasonable inference
That “sun is the best friend of mankind”.
Words: S.S.J. Fernando