My heart sinksbeneath the screamsof the powerless soulsas their tears vanishand silence follows Shadows scatter like broken prayerssouls stray like wingless wishesas a scene of horrorsummons them all The mother stands above the remnants of the ruined houseThe child strays, stranded and lostThe father lies buried beneath the rubbleAs their lives and stories become nothing …
The tap ran dry at seven in the morning. Nimal stood in the kitchen, a plastic bottle tilted under the faucet, watching nothing come out. He turned the handle left, then right, then left again. The pipes groaned like an old man clearing his throat—the same sound they’d made three months ago when the last …
Why should I speak,When all aroundTheir own voice shareWith spurning flair? With half a century of knowledge,But cannot hear for half a minuteWords this half-man tries to forage,Yet disturbed by what they audit. Why bother asking? To satisfy?Perhaps a guilt to justify.Concern? It does not showHow could it, When they do not know- What I …
Curved in a child’s drawing,yellow where there ought to be gold,jagged rays jutting out; uneven- with no real heat,with lines for birds that fly too close. A supposed depiction of the Sun. The child fails to see the heat,of the Sun that snatches back the light when it sets. Is this the Sun that brings …
A Ritual of Remembrance ‘Once inked on the face, a tattoo becomes a lifelong conversation.’ My little sister calls out— ‘I’m coming to say good night’ Afraid she might fall, I reach for the light, miss the switch, hit the bed’s sharp edge Blood on the floor, hospital glare, stitches cutting into skin, my screams, …
Whistler remembered her one trip outside the ring. A blue so bright it felt artificial. Clouds that were white and round, and not dark and angry. And the wind, not the humid blasts of air that she’d known all her life, but full and free, as if the sky itself was hugging her. Passing through …
I long for you as the ocean yearns swirling, churning and rasping to embrace the sky I burn for you as the sun bursts into the sky with scarlets and gold ambers and coppers Setting the sky on fire I weep for you as the sky grieves for the turf raining down with tears of …
Aaadara nadiya gala awa degoda thala. Pema soyala. Padmasiri almost dropped his phone trying to put it on silent mode. Piri diya kadithi pawa awa tharanga papa. Pema soyala. The phone screamed like a toddler who refuses to calm down. Padmasiri shook the phone several times. “I’m coming,” Pasan said, dashing into the living room. …
At the dawn of a new year, aftershocks of her death reverberated through a tranquil neighborhood. An eighty-one-year-old neighbor, aloof widow seen at the temple offering flowers to Lord Buddha chatting with a few on her way back, mere hours before — now found murdered inside her home. A vicious tale of violence: of broken …
So many elves of selves within me lie, Those whom the world has wrought And some who gave me birth have sought To make me think and seem alike and seek What others say and do and teach and preach Like pearls inset in jeweled class and creed. Then, there is the workplace bonhomie, me …
