Mirror Lit 100 Words
View(s): Some beautiful writing has come to the 100 Words page on ‘August’ which play upon the name of the actual month and what happens in it, and theadjective, bringing in a unique Sri Lankan flavour to this page.The theme for September is‘Purple’. Please send in your contributions before September 3 to Madhubhashini Disanayaka Ratnayake No. 8, Hunupitiya Cross Raod Colombo 2 N.B. Work sent to this page may be edited. |
Kindred Spirits
August is the arrest
Of my autumnal drift
When my niece
Stops by on vacation.
She, in her vivacious teen spring,
I, in my mid-life
spinisterhood.
Together, we make
A forty year divide whittle away
And assemble
A gloriously feathered
plumage
Rising on the wings
Of our aesthetic sensibilities;
Rummaging the Net for unheard melodies,
Relishing radio fare,
Raving over pop icons,
Retracing Greek mythology,
Recounting snippets of space travel
And reasoning the big bang.
Though opaque the bounds
Of our generational
disparity,
The Muses have made us
Kindred spirits.
Time passes in August
And ruffles ripples of
Confluence.
K. Liyanage
August
Your august personality
Intrigued me.
You were marvellous -
Magnificient –
Briiliant –
Until –
You were struck down
By that terrible disaster.
Your august figure
A crushed mass
Of silent suffering.
But –
Your august soul
Lives in me
Singing, scintillating
Inspiring me
With those stimulating
memories
That teach me
A million lessons!
Priscilla Pereira
August Images
Dizzying days of labour
For grown ups
Out in the ripened fields
Under a searing sun,
Until the last sackful
Of paddy is binned.
School holidays set free
Young ones to enjoy
The great liberty of childhood.
Field hedges – all down to the marsh edges
Wild and happy places
Seamed with clusters of berries
‘Bovitiya’ bursting
Into deep violet segments
Ripe and succulent
Indigo blue ‘dhang’
Swollen and ripened
Under the August sun
Squirting unbelievingly sweet juices
Into eager open mouths
Drenching, purpling
Small hands and faces.
The stubbled fields – open ground
To fly home-made kites
Whisked and twirled
By the laughing wind
Kamala Gunesekera
August Pride
They rush into this tiny island in August
From places innumerable
In northern and southern hemispheres
To witness the unique event
Full of august pride
- The Kandy Esala Perehera.
During the journey uphill
They enjoy a panorama,
Of ruddy spreads on either side,
Stop for a moment
To taste the luscious fruit
Under the ruddy skin: Rambutan,
‘Malwana Special’.
Kumari Weerasooriya
The August Assembly
Friends and countrymen,
Listen to my paen
To the August Assembly
Sitting behind the lake clad moat
Mouthing platitudes so deep,
so fine,
That we the people listen
with awe
These white clad servants
of the state
All honourable men,
Willing to hang for you
An obliging press in tow –
Employ as much as forty five
To advise on how a road is built
For you!
While you and I plod
On ruts as wide as the grins beneath their noses.
If only that public mask is removed
And the private face exposed
We see
These are only men!
Ursula P. Wijesuriya
(Shakespeare – please forgive me my trespasses.)
Reminiscence
The sun shines hard
On the dried up land,
The fallen leaves
Crunch as she walks,
The birds that cry
On crusted trees,
Echo all around
As she passes by. . .
A land once shouting
Out with life,
A life where happiness
Screamed with pride. . .
A teardrop falls
And wets the round
Ruminating of hope
On this august land.
Udari M.