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100 Words -
Arrival
Unwelcome
Your arrival
awoke me,
from my ritual siesta.
Groggy, disorientated,
I stumble upon your voice.
Hastily rubbing the sleep from my eyes,
pulling on more suitable attire,
forced, for the sake of decency,
whilst resenting the romp through
condensed shelves of clothing.
"You should have called first,"
I brood uncharitably,
as I ponder the pop of bubbles
broiling on the surface of your soda,
nursed in earnest companionship.
And opposite you I sit,
incessantly battling a pulsating urge to be rude.
Crabby and sullen,
churlish about your good intensions.
Shivanthi
Balasuriya
The waiting
They are afraid
of the darkness
'That brings shadows to life,
Sounds that come through
The silence of night
A creaking door, a barking dog
Or simply a leaf that falls.
Sleep does not come easy
To the wary mind and restless body.
They await the breaking of dawn.
Others hide
when daylight falls
Fearful of its brightness.
The fugitive
The recluse
The shamed and the shunned
They turn away from the sun,
Pointed fingers and barbed tongues.
They await the arrival of night.
D. de Silva
Arrival
I flicked through
the pages
of the old phone book
So many names I've jotted down faded now.
Now and then I come across an entry
that rings a bell in my mind
but, most of the time, it's the ambiguous
feeling of unrecognition
Names I can't place with the
dull outlines of faces...
Is it natural that we leave a part of us behind
with each new day, new knowledge
and new acquaintances all that will
sooner or later be faded into the background?
Maybe it's the way of clearing the path for another arrival
Lahiru Gangoda
When all at
once..
My eyes flit
from face to face,
restless; to rest upon the much awaited one
To cast off this age-old bond
which binds me to your presence is impossible
For life begins, for me, to move
at the blessed moment of your arrival.
Nipuni Ranaweera
Family of three
The household
was all agog.
Painted and fresh were the walls of white,
The floors all mopped and polished bright
Window panes clear as crystal,
Curtains fresh and fragrant,
Clean soft linen upon the beds
It was complete!
Stepping out the lawns were mowed,
Hedges rimmed and neatness showed.
The bird bath filled with water fresh,
I spotted a few new guests
Splashing, fluttering, drinking and rejoicing,
The spicy aroma of the kitchen felt.
A moment I held
my breath,
After a year's absence appeared
The tiny family of three.
Maithri Samarasinghe
Looking forward
Each and every
morning
Your heartbeat
awakens me -
makes me look forward
to your arrival
into my life, in to the whole world...
I feel, your loving smile and
how much you love me
Your little foot hits me
not intending to hurt.
Rather an accident, while you're playing
You know how much I long
To see you growing up, to play with you
To dress you like a little princess
To comb your hair as my mother did
and above all
calling me "mom"
to hear you.
Harshani
A new arrival
A painful yell
of a new mom fills the air,
A feeble cry of a vulnerable being
gradually reveals its arrival,
A blissful calmness in her tired face,
Her pain soon melted into a
smile hard to define.
"A girl. Congratulations"
"Oh she is so beautiful!"
She wraps her arms around her
I wish I were you, little one
A warm tranquil feeling penetrates
my heart
A silver tear trickles down
her eyes, washing my
segregation away.
Blossom free,
my child, as a lotus,
off the mud in which it was born
unsoiled by it.
In the blur of grey morning mist
Time has stopped for a moment
I walked away from them,
The world never dies
Nadeesha
Perera
An American
solution
With their smart
bombs and tomahawks
to "liberate and disarm" they say.
It rained bombs over Baghdad
Ali orphaned, heritage looted.
Karbala wept
"Collateral damage" they say.
The world watched the latest Nintendo on TV
In the name of peace we shall "shock and awe".
An American solution to an uncivilised world.
Target escaped,
now it's singing and dancing
in the streets.
Let's not forget to give Ali an American sugar candy
to wipe away his tears
For the sake of humankind we arrived and
we shall not depart.
S. Murugesu
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