Poetry
Rehabilitation
The outgoing president of my former country just pardoned Jude Jayamaha, murderer of the young Yvonne Jonsson, who had dual Sri Lankan and Swedish nationality, bludgeoned to death in an apartment at…
Free Elephants
Where elephants go to die were departments of Spanish literature in remote Plains and Midwestern colleges. according to Jose Donoso. For me, these pictures of an emaciated, starved, older female, broken, tired,…
Cathedral, Jaffna
I am praying in a pew at Saint Mary’s Cathedral. The building has suffered burning, cyclones, the Eelam war’s bombs. Four hundred years ago Portuguese built the first church here, which…
Man Versus Elephant
I hear compensation due for an attack by a wild elephant will increase to rupees 500,000 from the current 200 K in Sri Lanka. Henceforth, if you are unlucky enough to…
Hello Mr Soldier
On the wooden bench, deep in the land of the warriors, Your Jaipur prosthetic leg takes on a new posture; A docile pet, sitting snugly next to you, watchfully spying. That stump…
My Uchipattam
My mother parts my hair in the middle, Places the Uchipattam at the center. It rests on my forehead. It feels cold. She tells me that I look like my grandmother; Not…
Habeas Corpus
We returned to the place Where we were buried in a hurry “Let’s look for our bodies,” we said We searched the edge of the lagoon, the marsh Where uniformed men said…
Bury them right now
The modern political discourse on conflict resolution becomes a banality when it invariably tends to get stuck with a buzz word or phrase. Then, the intellectual circus begins. The experts coin them…
Welcome Back, Uncle
After Civil War and Tsunami, floods again, the worst in 25 years, which recalls more or less the war’s length, and the Tsunami won’t return for another hundred. Where will we molder…
Winning For Whom?
“Catch it!” Two words that snap me into action, The crowd cheering, my team turns and looks at me. The adrenaline surges and I am out of my daydream. Catch it, and…
And the moon sheds a drop of blood
Photo by Louis Cahill In January last year, I visited Mullaitivu. Since it was after dusk, I decided to find lodging just for one night. During the day, I had the opportunity…
We, Displaced.
She marched through the streets in ’09, For a country thousands of miles away, For the people she had never met. She marched, and she stood side by side Thousands. Thousands, who,…
The Other Side
A glimpse of the streets we would have called home, I’m laughing in the park, climbing the coconut trees, Cycling through the dusty lanes, playing at the local spots. It’s a strange…
On GLF and Evolving Culture
Featured image courtesy Amalini de Sayrah Last week saw the usually sleepy town of Galle come to life with the Galle Literary Festival. In a celebration of all things literary, Colombars descended…