Death-crossing, the Great Divide
Awaiting the inevitable, in one’s declining years,
Having completed life’s mission,
Life’s ups and downs, with no everlasting emotions,
Expecting to depart from this temporal world.
In solitude reflecting on the past,
Unveiling mental images, enveloped throughout,
Memories sweet, memories sour, cloud the mind,
A few of course tugging at the heart strings.
Maturity dawns with ripening years,
Broadens one’s outlook in many ways,
Feelings of regret, feelings of fulfilment,
Accepted as part and parcel of life.
Like flashes of lightening, random thoughts kindle the mind,
Reliving the past, a departed youth,
Wakes up suddenly, to be reminded of the final exit,
Practises spirituality, with utmost zeal.
Equipped with moral and ethical values,
Clearing the path to heavenly bliss,
One awaits calmly to welcome
the ‘predestined guest’
Possesing the keys to the final abode, serene and divine.
Malini Hettiarachchi
Malabe
****
Corona
O thou most wicked Corona!
In which dreaded place did you breed?
Is it from a fossilized dragon seed?
Embedded in a chasm in China?
Or did you come from an alien planet?
Which nobody has yet discovered;
or from another asteroid
Fallen on to the earth near Arizona?
Most of the people the world over,
Are at a loss to discover,
Whether you came from America
Or from some place in China?
Are you a means of biological balance
Because the world is overcrowded,
Specially with humans who are VICIOUS
And you want to make it a pleasant place?
Let it be anyone or from anywhere
Here, you are wreaking havoc everywhere
Humans call you Covid pandemic
Of which they are afraid to speak
Let it be whoever you are;
Stop this dreaded menace please!
I implore you to vanish from here,
And let the people live without fear!
Please listen to my request Corona dear!
You can’t continue this torture forever
For everything anywhere is transient
So, please vanish soon from our planet!
A. C. de Silva
Wadduwa
****
Black Princess
Black Princess with her brother,
Saw their mother,
Walking faster than ever.
Her eyes were brighter.
Mother cat combs their fur,
Like every other mother,
With the long black fur,
Black Princess look prettier than the other.
One day, the mother cat was looking here and there,
She was not finding them anywhere.
Anyway, she saw the dead body somewhere,
Cried out louder than ever.
The little one came like flying through air,
searching for the other
He looked frightened,
without knowing what had happened.
Mother cat combed his fur,
Like nothing happened before.
And said O my little one,
Our Black Princess
will come soon.
Varuni Peiris
****
Life
Life appears to be
An empty dream
Some call it a journey
Others a pilgrimage
Prior to surrendering same
At the end.
It is a question paper
Spread before us
Some of the problems
Are trivial
Others are confusing and grave
After grappling with them
Will bid adieu to this world
With bare hands as we emerged to it
Achieved practically nothing
Most of the questions
Practically unanswered, unresolved
Departs without our knowledge
As we remain unconscious.
Leaving the final rites
To be performed by others
To whom we would have been
Acceptable or unacceptable
Yet, life depended on them
Partings are always sad
Yet, we have to part.
Camillus Fernando