Waiting for you on the Kala Wewa bund

Obliterated footsteps speak to me

they rise from dust and longing

soar into irrigated conversations 

and the small talk of small men;

there’s a canopy of chanting 

hovering over the Kadawara Devalaya

plaintive beseeching and fervent vows 

consecrating with divine blush

the ethos of agrarian solidarity;

the loquacious sun 

titillates with humor the trees 

and far away mountains burn blue 

in perennial boredom;

I know that from somewhere

the Aukana eyes watch 

and as the ripples come to me

for a moment I linger 

upon thathagatha gaze;

I’m waiting for music 

that has detoured perhaps 

armies march to paddy-field and war

a saffron sweep floats by 

the past conjugates with the now

retires into night

and there I stand

contemplating a defiant tomorrow

that restates the order of the earth

rearranges the sky

and divines a moment or two

with you.

Theft

She wrote of journeys and turning points
sameness and change
the unnoticed that leave marks,
she wrote of roses
that into dandelions slipped
of feelings that
new residences found,
she wrote and wrote
and traced underside of heart
not to me
not of me
not for me,
but I took it all,
all for myself.

Ode to Nostalgia

Ah! Nostalgia!
The underside of all tomorrows
save haven for the timid,
for the averter of gaze
of those momentary eyes
that with fire consume
and with dew drop resurrect;
a place to go but not to stay
in this universe that is unparalleled.

I read the script
which as I read blurred
and disappearing left her behind,
alluring in reticence
mortal in the pinpricks
of enduring presence,
and thus tattooed
I move among the mysterious
an alien planet of curiosity shops
and bottled vineyards 
violins melting into absurd pianos
raindrops on windowpanes
and a storm-wind comforter,
a cleft chin that cuts through ambivalence
rearranges a fruit basket,
lips that smile to a world forbidden
and words that must say something
but remain unread
in the illiteracy of the heart.

In a galaxy of a zillion stars...

If dying stars can wish upon dying stars wish

for simultaneous perishing will they wish

or will they in full knowledge of passing

opt to turn instant into an eternity

use intersection as flint stone 

and in Promethean flame 

the universe ignite 

as lovers often do? 

මැයි දිනය අදයි

වැරදීමක් ද? නැත!
අද,
බක් මස විසි හය වැනි දා
අදයි මැයි දිනය
අද මෙන් ම
දුරුතු මස පළවැනිදා ද
උඳුවප් මස තිස් එක් වැනි දා ද
ඒ අතර සෑම දිනයක් ම
මැයි දිනය වේ!
ටජ්මහල සාදා නිම කලේ ද
පිරමීඩ මෙන්ම රුවන්වලිය ද
ශාන්ත පීතර ගේ බැසිලිකාවද
මැයි දිනයක ම නිම විය;
වෙල්ලස්සේ සියදහසක් වැව් අමුණු ද
න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාර ද
මල්ටි බැරල් තුවක්කු ද
පළමු ඇනයේ සිට
අලවියෙන් පසු සේවය දක්වා ද
රක්ෂණ අළවියද
නීත්‍යානුකූල ව සාක්කුවට විදීමද
හදවත් පැහැරීම් ද
රැවුම් ගෙරවිලි තැවරුණු සමච්චලයද
රත් වූ වද රතු නොවන
දිනයක් වසරක් තත්පරයක්
නමක් ගමක් නොමැති නිශ්චිත
එහෙත් මැයි දින වලටම අනන්‍යය --
මැයි දිනය අදයි
"හාන පෝරු ගාන
වී වපුරන වෙල් යායක
සටන් පාඨ වැඩ වර්ජන
කම්හල් දැති රෝද අතර
උදේ සවස වැඩට යනෙන කෝච්චියක"
ශ්‍රමයේ ඵලය
පල පල දෙන
මැයි දිනය අදයි
වැරදීමක් නොවේ මෙය.

Thus spake god and the devil

And one fine day

at twilight

under a threshold 

drenched in primordial spray
neither wet nor dry 
a chronic schizophrenic 

half asleep and half awake

tossed a coin:

on one side it said 'good'

and on the other, 'evil'

and the I 

that turned into I and I

a sacred covenant signed.

'We shall be one or the other

and we shall in duality

reinforce 

this love,' said I

and I added, 'and this hate';

'yes,' I replied 

'in the pot-kettle game 

shall I affirm myself'.

And I sealed it with a kiss:

'and thus shall we thrive

through sickness and health

good times and bad,

richer or poorer,

for better or wose,

to love and to honor

forever and ever

amen!'

Meaning

What's a hundred or more kilometers
for a thought that's gone around the world
and visited all corners in a few minutes?
What's half an hour or more in a traffic jam
for one stuck at a 'Not Welcome' sign?
What's forever for
for a moment that has passed
from her memory?
What's a soiled shirt and unkempt hair
in a body housing a despoiled heart?