Glow of a crimson candle...

We wanted to hear the church bells joyfully ring
But on that Sunday there was a deafening blast
Mellifluous voices of the choir would no longer sing
The keys of the organ had just played their last
The sanctum shuddered, the tiles with velocity fell
When innocent people had knelt to pray
Christian survivors would now only live to tell
The carnage and tragic death of that black Sunday
I looked around the sudden river of believer’s blood
Pious men, women and gentle children were dead
The cry of the injured gushed like a raging flood
The white marble altar was now tainted red
Ten years of jubilant peace ruined in one day
Unchecked violent extremism brutally assailed
The churches were filled with fear and dismay
Responders rushed and the sirens wailed
I heard a child weep for his dead mother
We were silenced by the sound of anguish and pain
I saw a sailor offering hope like a brother
A solitary gesture of love in death’s dark domain
Why did they plot against us to kill?
We were a people of tolerance and love
There will never be a reward on a paradise hill
But only God’s sure righteous justice from above
We must prudently choose to forgive, it’s hard but right
Let our blessed Sri Lanka slowly heal
In this despair may we shine our radiant light
So the enemy our peace cannot steal

- Dishan Joseph