100 Words

The Language of Love

He looked at me with his big brown eyes,
Full of questions I didn't understand.
Then I spoke to him,
I needed to know what was wrong.
He looked even more confused,
And he started to cry.
He couldn't understand me.
Then I held him close to me,
Till he heard my heart beat.
He became calm,
He understood the language of love.
Though no words were spoken,
He understood my love for him.
He looked at me and smiled,
I then knew that my little baby boy,
Knew how much I loved him.

Sheranga Samarakone

Language

In my home
In the far-off place the maid
Rocks and sways baby and croons lullabies
in that other language.
She chuckles and falls asleep.
When her child comes
I speak to him in mine
He hesitantly says "Vinodhan"
Takes the biscuits and flees to play.
A pair of 'Eti-kukulas' on the temple tree
gurgle in unison – it will rain.
The squirrels set off their alarm
The monitor must be up their tree again.

Malika Fernando

Grandma

She left the shores with her parents
As a tiny toddler,
Waving good bye to her grandma
They left behind.

She was brought up by her parents
Exactly,
Like a native
Of the foreign land.

Time passed by...

On one eve of a day
They returned,
To satisfy the last wish
Of her long forgotten grandma.

Lying on her death bed,
Grandma caught the young girl's hands
And murmured sweet words
In a foreign language
She could not understand.

Helpless and heart-broken,
She looked at her parents'
Guilty, self-conscious eyes.
She felt like an alien
Among her own ones.

Jayamalie Jayasuriya

True Language

Not words alone
Lay bare our thoughts
Air-out our feelings,
They are but subtle tools we use
To reveal and conceal.

But the look in the eyes
The touch of the hand
The sacrifice unspoken.

And music tongue of Eden, and tears
Touch the sublime.
And surpassing them all
Silence, language ineffable.

Nirmala Louis

The painter's blues

The handy man at home
Planning to give our abode
A fresh coat of colour
Got his things together
Climbed the wooden ladder
And with masterful strokes
Proceeded to change the hue
From white to a pleasing blue

Enter the canine, Rover
Who gave the scene the once – over
And wanting to help
Climbed the bottom step
And sent the ladder rolling over

Now Rover has pale blue fleece
And the floor is a colourful frieze
And my man – he is still in one piece

Malini Epa

Me

As I stand in front of the mirror, I see her
always with an unexplained look.
I tried speaking to her in every language
But she never
Spoke, only her eyes I could feel whenever I
closed mine.
But she still remains unseen, unheard and
"unknown"

Nugha Ramzath

Language

The Language That They Know
Not for me the mindless chatter,
The smooth talker,
The proud boast.
I'd rather wait an eternity
To hear
The language that I know.

I would not need to see his face,
Or touch his hand, to know.
It is enough,
If he speaks
The language that I know.

In the distance
Amidst a crowd
He would stand apart.
Kindred spirits recognize their own,
When they hear,
The language that they know.

V. Ramanayake

Perfect

Stilled by this magical moment,
You with your pile of groceries
And I with my ever conversant guitar,
Providing a soul-searching backdrop

Unable to speak
Yet, knowing
That I'm conversing merrily
With your deep blue eyes,

Bewildered by the thought
For, try as I might've
I've never conversed
So fluently
Even with the fairest of my own kind

Understanding every little gesture you make,
Comfortably knowing
For the first time
I too am being understood
I wish for this to never end,
The oasis that I found in this lush,
Yet barren land
Of the gibberish tongue

Thushara Chathuranga

L'Ericture

When moseying
On the paths of lan
guage;
trees imparted to you
secrets of love and
erotics.

Even when the sun
reached the zenith
you remained as fresh
as when you first
blossomed
on the morning
the language was born.

And when the dusk
Descended on the
mountain tops;
Language like an artful
painter
Took its colour and
painted your hair.

Even after the monsoon
rains you remained
unwithered embedded
in the safe plumage of
language.

But you will thus remain
only until the words
cease and betray you.

Dhanuka Bandara