Endings

I am the watcher of the night. 
An iron gate clangs loudly shut, 
Keys turn in locks, a woman screams, 
Footsteps behind me coming up the stairs..... 
An end of things 
That yesterday seemed only beginning.

The moon 
Is swallowed by mist. 
Darkness. 
Time slips 
From under my feet. I know 
It will be difficult to write. 

Anne Ranasinghe
 

Outside, the skinny air howls, 
As mole-rats hunt for blind owls. 
Time was dead by two
o' clock; 
Buried, cloaked in an absurd frock. 
Woodpeckers flew, nailing letters to doors; 
Rattlesnakes beat it out on hollow floors.

Leading the chorus were flying-flish entangled, 
The sun was out of key; it was strangled. 
Trees devoured the withered road,
Spotted hyenas composed an ode.

By the gravestone, carved with thorn of rose, 
I sat where the purple grass froze. 
Tears were not needed; they were not invited, 
Our friendship has ended, and will never be recited. 

Devmin Palihakkara. 
 

The start: 
She looked sophisticated in her short skirt. 
He looked cool in his denim jeans. 
They met in a shopping mall. 
Spoke for a while..... 
Pledged eternal love. 
Some time went by. 
The end: 
He got fed up with her 
She thought he was not cool enough. 
They came to a mutual agreement. 
And ended their affair. 

Veranja Liyanapathirana 
 

Everything was still. 
Usually the wind blows through the valley at this time. 
But not tonight. 
They were lying on the wet grass. 
Lying very close. 
" 29 , 30, 31... it's never ending." 
He said trying to count the stars.
She slowly turned to him and said, 
" That's what's special about it." 
He smiled and held her a little bit closer. 
"Yes. It's never ending," he whispered. 

A. Ratnayake 
 

"I hate you, 
You cheating drunk, 
we must end it all." 
The little girl cowered, eyes filled with fear. 
" You foul mouthed bitch," 
He sped into the night. 
Wishing for an end. 
She hugged Pooh tight as she softly cried. 

"Get out now, I'll end my life." 
"You get out, your end has come." 
She covered her ears, she didn't want to hear. 

Her world was crashing, 
Her heart was breaking, 
The little one sobbed as she prayed. 
With a rush of angels' wings 
The storm-clouds blew away, 
A new beginning followed 
Many futile endings. 

Priyeni de Silva McLeod
 

My friend, 
Take this dagger 
And just stab me in the heart 
Mind you, 
Get right at the heart that was once filled with love 
For you alone.

My friend, 
End my life 
Do not end my sanity 

Dr. Mayondi Manjula Rajapaksha 
 

Having read most of Edgar Allan Poe, 
I mused on his unstable life...... 
Cursed with a drunken ego 
He antagonised friend and foe. 
Though blessed with charm and brilliance 
This haunted melancholy man 
Was doomed to die a lonely death. 
This wayward genius wrote 
Gothic, gruesome tales of woe, and 
the most lyrical poems of love. 
Morbid, macabre madness and grief 
Dragged him down to the abyss, 
Searching for his lost Lenore, 
Swimming to reach that distant shore..... 
I seem to hear his raven scream: 
Never more ! Never more ! 

Jegatheeswari Nagendran 
 

We all stood back from your life 
Aghast, 
Shocked, 
Thunderstruck. 
Your life came to a standstill 
Abruptly. 
It was an accident - 
You lost your hands - 
Your precious hands. 
Oh, you were such a brilliant artist. 
It was the ending - 
Of your flamboyant life 
Of painting. 
Now, - 
You - a world-famous artist 
Who paints with his toes. 
Truly - 
Seeming endings - 
Are new beginnings. 

Priscilla Pereira

Emphatic Endings - Fullstops after a sentence, two bar-lines to end a line of music, a firm knot to finish your sewing. 

Joyous Ending - Term-end to a hosteller living far from home. 

Tearful Ending - On leaving school; the best years of your life have ended. 

Ambivalent Ending - Sad that your holiday is over; happy to return to the very things you wanted to get away from. Abrupt Ending - An electrical appliance stops in the middle of your work. You tap it, hit it and shake it with no avail. 

Compulsory Ending - Lest I exceed 100 words. 

Mrs. Thilaha Yoganathan 

Beauty in love

By Laila Nasry

The story is an adaptation of the well-known fairy story 'Beauty and the Beast'. As in the story Mr. Smith, Beauty's father plucks a rose from the Beast's garden and has to pay for it either with his life or by sending his daughter as companion to the beast...and so the story goes. A beast waiting to be released from a punishing curse, a heart broken father, an ever-willing daughter, mean sisters, all promise the musical which has a lot of song and dance, to be an entertaining one. 

The cast comprises around 100 youngsters and provides a wonderful stepping stone for would be Thespians. 12 year-old Stephanie de Mel plays Beauty, a role she finds not too difficult and extremely fun. "I like my character very much and I'm really enjoying myself." However Stephanie clearly sees a contradiction between herself and her role as Beauty. "Beauty must have been a very good girl. I don't think I would have been brave enough to do what she did."

"I'm inspired by my brother," says first timer on stage, Ruvini Fernando who dons the mask of the Beast in the play. A character she wanted very much, she is really glad she landed the role and finds it very challenging and exciting. Similarly Rochelle Kelly thinks of her dad, every time she plays father to Beauty and her two sisters. "That way it is not hard to play a male part," she feels. 

Amanda Dissanayake and Ruwangi Welikela enjoy being haughty and mean. The wicked sisters in the play they do find their roles rather extreme but all the same different and interesting as it entails a lot of team work.

'A Midsummer Frolic with Beauty and the Beast', is the middle school's contribution to Bishop's College's 125th anniversary celebrations. Left out on most occasions, the youngsters felt it was "exciting" and "a wonderful experience", being able to be part of an extremely significant milestone in the history of their school. "It has always been either the senior school or the juniors," say both Devini Jayasekera and Thisakya Senanayake, "so it's great that the middle school has finally got its chance." 

The play is directed by Clare de Silva while the music and choral direction is by Beatrice Devasagayam assisted by Kamalini Samarakoon. The choreography is by Oosha Saravana-muttu. 'A Midsummer Frolic with Beauty and the Beast' which has the ingredients for a delightful evenings entertainment, will go on boards at the Bishop's College Auditorium on July 1 and 2 at 7p.m.

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