“For a canoe that comes to pick flowers
to be with bullets riddled
in the middle of a reservoir
let license be granted to a lotus
among red petals a pistol to conceal.
“Instead of bringing forth separately
for common internment
let us decree that the ocean
must henceforth construct a plain
for a river another river to meet
face to face.”
“Alright friend,
but tell me
of what use is the proximate sound of a lighthouse
for a ship that has its anchor lost?”
[translation of "නැංගුරම නැති නැවක්" from the collection "මීළඟ මීවිත" (The next wine) by Ruwan Bandujeewa]