When evening fades and a chilly wind blows,
I yearn to get close to my mother,
But my brother is between me and her.
The cold and hard cement of the pavement
Makes me turn and shift a dozen times.
I wake up with the first signs of dawn.
The cool waters of a roadside tap
Give me a feeling of rare luxury;
Then, I don a frock two sizes bigger,
Comb my hair, tie a ribbon and a slide to keep it in place;
My rubber slippers are red to match the ribbon.
The broken piece of a mirror tells me I’m ready.
I board a bus or a train,
Creep through the crowd with a till in my hand,
Waiting to be filled before noon.
As I move through the two rows
I see faces filled with disgust, impatience or frowns
Hear the unuttered words “Go away”
Not deterred by them, I burst into a song.
My song stirs up memories in the elderly
Of frolic and love of a by-gone era,
A smile hovers over their wrinkled faces.
They hunt for a coin in their bags and pockets.
The young give me an amazed look
Delve into their pencil cases and boxes
Find a coin, a note to put into my till.
I have reached the last seat,
Today has been a good day.
What will my mother say?
“Why did you come back
– Sunila Nanayakkara
Meditation
Meditation is an extreme form of concentration
Which human beings develop with breathing
Meditation emerges when mind is on right thought
And right understanding which Buddha taught
Meditation is a mere natural flow
All engage in it, rich, poor, high and low
Meditation compels the mind to focus on one thing
And keeps you away from all worldly things
Meditation leads to no enmity with anyone
It is happiness and welfare of everyone
In meditation there is no room for hatred to arise
It is loving kindness of the wise
When aspirations are still tender
It is a great service that meditation can render
Those addicted to various sensual pleasures
Will never be able to seek this treasure
Meditation gives you deeper insight to spirituality
Uprooting greed and motions of superiority
They are those who are making an earnest effort
To nurture Dhamma in their innocent hearts
When you meditate with a good frame of mind
Universal love permeates and creates peace of mind
Meditation carried continuously on a regular basis
Will mitigate the symptoms of stress
Regular exercise of mind also eases depression
When they are subjected to Buddha’s compassion
– Rupa Banduwardena
Life on Earth
Hark..! at the ominous sounds
Behold ...! the dangerous sights
Heed ...! the warning signs
Heavy rains and dreadful droughts
Landslides and floods
Cyclones and hurricanes
Tsunamis and earthquakes
Tornadoes and storms
Heat waves and cold spells
Erupting volcanoes
Oh...! people of the world
Do not...! fell the trees
Do not ...! pollute rivers
Do not...! darken the air
Keep!...the waters clean
Protect!...the air we breathe
Conserve !.... vegetation
Nurture !...the innocent animals
Embrace!...pure nature.
Oh!....people of the world
Let all of us unite to
Preserve precious life
On this our planet earth!
– Padmini Senevirathna
Uplands
The granite mount
Rise up the plain
A steep climb
over many a rock
upward muddy trek
cracks on the rock
The hard winds blow
Sweeping through forests
Hiss of the stream
The nesting birds
Abundant flowers
stench of refuse
The rotting trunks
Growing wild trees
Tend and able
changing weather
adopt the climate
embrace nature
As uplands remains
– Miran Perera.
Your parting gift
Your parting exotic gift on my table,
Took my heart by storm; then I saw your note,
With instructions to water, at least once a week!
You say the orchid is a symbol of our friendship
And it will help remember you
At least once a week for the rest of my life!
This also comes with a promise of your return
Upon my hundredth birthday!
Guess being a forester you know what is best
As you rightly say the pressure is now on
In not letting the orchid die!
Wonder why you didn’t make it a little easier
By gifting an oak or a mango plant!
Although you are a talented wrestler
It dawns on me now that you are also a versatile forester
Elegant and delicate, unique and mystic
Luxurious and mysterious; refined and exotic!
In return, I pray that you will meet your Maker
That you would bloom again and again
Like the long lasting orchids in the field
You will be the colourful rainbow in scores of lives
Bringing healing with your words of life!
Let your vanilla fragrance fill the air
Until we meet again on my one hundredth birthday!
– Timothy A Edward
The Distinction
The mouth of a lagoon
Neither shouts nor grieves
At the volume of water
But in silence, does its duty.
The mouth of a river;
In a gentleman manner
Harmonizes with the sea
With no protest or disagreement.
The mouth of a cave
Neither obstructs nor stops
But provides shade and shelter
To anybody who comes in.
The mouth of a wild animal
Does show expression of love
And becomes wild only for hunger
And defensive measures.
But, the unguarded tongues
Of some human beings:
With volume of lies, complaints........
Pollute, abuse and spoil the hearts
And souls of the nations
Never allowing the flower of prosperity
To bloom and spread its fragrance!
– Jayalath Basnagoda