Death Notice

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.