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Wednesday 15 November 2017

Ode to projectiles

I am thinking of projectiles:
the toss of a rock and a teargas canister
multiple arcs of a stone bouncing on water
the throw from the bounday
accusation in court
a token of love into a trashcan 
as an orchestra goes silent
a prayer for a child unconscious 
a shooting star disappearing into target
color-throw from one end of sky to the other
and a thought, a plea and a voice
moving across the uneven earth
and through other trajectories 
coming to rest on a singular card 
that says ‘heart-locked’ 
and concludes ‘yours’ 
but perhaps 
not just mine.   

Sunday 12 November 2017

Earth of the salt

Metaphor for flavor
belonging and goodness,
enricher of idiom and language,
symbol of political stance,
issue of elemental intercourse,
token of a kitchen’s viability:
salt.

It does not come from sea,
not from play of sun on water,
salt:
it does not arrive,
it is made.

Salt:
It has a synonym
here in Puttalam. 

[first published in 'The Nation,' July 30, 2006]