{"id":139382,"date":"2015-02-18T00:03:42","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T18:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=139382"},"modified":"2015-02-22T00:03:03","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T18:33:03","slug":"three-poems-by-siri-gunasinghe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/three-poems-by-siri-gunasinghe\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Poems By Siri Gunasinghe"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ranjini Obeyesekere<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ranjini<\/a>

Ranjini Obeyesekere<\/p><\/div>\n

Three Poems by Siri Gunasinghe<\/span><\/a> – \u00a0translated by Professor Ranjini Obeyesekere<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Water Buffalo<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

My beard on fire<\/p>\n

in haste, I was running, running down in the dawn,<\/p>\n

bearing the burdens of life<\/p>\n

all on my back;<\/p>\n

at the edge of the road, in a large clump of grass<\/p>\n

like a fat merchant spread eagled on his easy-chair<\/p>\n

I saw you lie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Siri<\/a>Both eyes closed;<\/p>\n

and at the earth-shattering<\/p>\n

battering of my feet<\/p>\n

you did not even start.<\/p>\n

Ears turned down;<\/p>\n

my sky-thundering<\/p>\n

lightning-like haste<\/p>\n

did not surprise you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teeth unbrushed<\/p>\n

face unwashed,<\/p>\n

in the mountain\u2019s moist lap<\/p>\n

of lush marsh grass<\/p>\n

mud splashed.<\/p>\n

What if, like you<\/p>\n

I too<\/p>\n

could laze?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tell me my buffalo,<\/p>\n

you who can\u2019t even stand<\/p>\n

yes you, Reverend Sir!<\/p>\n

Are you observing rites,<\/p>\n

contemplating the impermanence of life,<\/p>\n

belching with both eyes closed?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or do you count beads<\/p>\n

with each slow puff<\/p>\n

of dilated nostril?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like eye-flies slowly crawling<\/p>\n

from a partly opened flower<\/p>\n

are the thoughts that seem to teem<\/p>\n

from those faintly twitching eyes;<\/p>\n

what secret do they hold?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Head half-lifted up<\/p>\n

spit drooling, lips that chap<\/p>\n

like a toothless mouth chewing betel<\/p>\n

all alone;<\/p>\n

a lazy past was yours.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The full weight of earth and sky<\/p>\n

bundled in one load<\/p>\n

like a wisp of a cotton flake<\/p>\n

you bear<\/p>\n

on those handsome, upturned horns.<\/p>\n

How do you do it<\/p>\n

O buffalo?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You do not know of yesterday<\/p>\n

nor have yet come to know today.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow you know nothing of.<\/p>\n

Undying time alone is yours.<\/p>\n

You are my only idol<\/p>\n

all in stone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Memorial<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Forsaking me<\/p>\n

leaving my limbs death-stiff<\/p>\n

she left \u2013 disappeared \u2013<\/p>\n

went away;<\/p>\n

and I became a prey<\/p>\n

to a flock of wild-beast memories<\/p>\n

a bloody prey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The thick dark of time shrouds<\/p>\n

but in the flickering light from my heart<\/p>\n

her body glows<\/p>\n

gleams before my eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like a cool streak of water<\/p>\n

between rough rocks<\/p>\n

she flows<\/p>\n

soaking my heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The colour of clear skies is her.<\/p>\n

The texture of trees and flowers is she.<\/p>\n

All the colors of the world are her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I struggle hard to shut her out<\/p>\n

She lurks in the very lashes of my eyes.<\/p>\n

The tough dry skin of forgetfulness<\/p>\n

splits apart —<\/p>\n

your eyes peer at me dear one.<\/p>\n

I still see the trembling of your lips<\/p>\n

as you embrace me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The only happiness life has,<\/p>\n

the one lovely object the world holds,<\/p>\n

is she \u2013 companion of my loneliness \u2013<\/p>\n

vanished now;<\/p>\n

the only woman who shared my loneliness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dirty Dishwater<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Man\u2019s mind is a kitchen<\/p>\n

Learning, it\u2019s dishwater.<\/p>\n

I grovel, lapping it up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Black crows flock<\/p>\n

to drive me away.<\/p>\n

It is not easy to escape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dishwater stagnates in the drain<\/p>\n

with stale leftovers<\/p>\n

scraped off broken plates.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No salt or flavor in it<\/p>\n

nothing to fill one up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hurt by a hurled coconut shell<\/p>\n

leg-lifted<\/p>\n

yelping<\/p>\n

I still cannot tear myself away<\/p>\n

from that drain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All that gave life<\/p>\n

to a lifeless existence \u2013<\/p>\n

dishwater.<\/p>\n

The only flavour<\/p>\n

in a flavorless life \u2013<\/p>\n

stale food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":124436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThree Poems By Siri Gunasinghe - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/three-poems-by-siri-gunasinghe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three Poems By Siri Gunasinghe - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/three-poems-by-siri-gunasinghe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-17T18:33:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-21T18:33:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Ranjani.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"138\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"152\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/three-poems-by-siri-gunasinghe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/three-poems-by-siri-gunasinghe\/\",\"name\":\"Three Poems By Siri Gunasinghe - 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