Category: Literary

[Israeli defence minister says: ‘‘We are fighting with human animals” and prime minister Netanyahu says in his address to the nation: ‘‘Israel is fighting with the enemies of civilization … This war is between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism’’. This poem is in response to their utterances.]       [Israeli defence minister says: ‘‘We are… Continue reading A Voice from Palestine by M. A. Nuhman

My first ganudenuwa[i] This Sinhala and Hindu New year was with a hungry man who rang the doorbell with his elbow at the auspicious hour for money transactions. He had had his fingers chopped off and stuck his hands through the grill of my gate. I didn’t ask him what happened I merely inserted currency… Continue reading New Year’s Day, Sri Lanka 2022 – Vivimarie VanderPoorten

The bedMade from wood of a tree, nurtured in the Vanni forestThe tree bears fruits, yellow, plump, small and sticky, very sweetHoney–filled flowers  The old carpenter carved its legs and drew motifs The sweet aroma and taste stem from the bed mixed with the scent of my child who sleeps on itI softly touch it… Continue reading Untitled – ‘Chitra’

The writers were at the table, eating each other’s words. Delicate morsels of sliced crime, tangy segments of romance, silver spoonerisms washed down with a glass of iced humour that turned the lips green. ‘How delightful’, one cooed, ‘I must try this at home.’ The wine critic was not sure. She would like to have… Continue reading A Feast of Words – Minoli Salgado
for Sandya Ekneligoda

Three women have been trampled to death during a stampede for an $8 cash handout in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo amid growing desperation among Sri Lankans struggling to make ends meet during a coronavirus lockdown – News item In the night news,that one clever close up ofA mound of threadbarerubber slippers The slippers speak Their… Continue reading Maligawatte, 2020 – Vivimarie Vanderpoorten