Every character scripted in
the kings, queens and ghosts
the jester and the prince
the pothe gura and the purohitha
clothed in wit and meaning
comment and critique
armed with song and slogan
literary allusion
and flipping of text,
they were there
on the street
in the street
with and for the street:
and every line and lyric
gesture and glance
and all the props and make-up
that turned player into audience
made street stage and stage street
float like ghosts behind a king and citizen
teacher and student
it is the unscripted theatre moment
the mortalizing of
the immortal,
the flight of he who never would flee,
the cremation of he who would not die.
[From the collection 'Stray Kites']
*Written upon the death of Gamini
Haththotuwegama.
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