Full Description
Sri Lanka has thrilled the foreign imagination as a land of infinite possibility. Portuguese, Dutch and British colonisers envisioned an island of gems and pearls, a stopping-point on the Silk Road; tourists today are sold a vision of golden beaches and swaying palm trees, delicious food and smiling locals. This favours the south of the island over the north rebuilt piecemeal after the end of the civil war in 2009, and erases a history of war crimes, illicit assassination of activists and journalists, subjugation of minorities, and a legacy of governmental corruption that has now led the country into economic and social crisis.
This first ever anthology of Sri Lankan and diasporic poetry - many exiles refuse to identify as "Sri Lankan" - features over a hundred poets writing in English, or translated from Tamil and Sinhala. It brings to light a long-neglected national literature, and reshapes our understanding of migrational poetics and the poetics of atrocity. Poets long out of print appear beside exciting new talents; works written in the country converse with poetry from the UK, the US, Canada and Australia. Poems in traditional and in open forms, concrete poems, spoken word poems, and experimental post-lyric hybrids of poetry and prose, appear with an introduction explaining Sri Lanka's history.
There are poems here about love, art, nature - and others exploring critical events: the Marxist JVP insurrections of the 1970s and 80s, the 2004 tsunami and its aftermath, recent bombings linked with the demonisation of Muslim communities. The civil war between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers is a haunting and continual presence. A poetry of witness challenges those who would erase, rather than enquire into, the country's troubled past. This anthology affirms the imperative to remember, whether this relates to folk practices suppressed by colonisers, or more recent events erased from the record by Sinhalese nationalists.
Poetry Book Society Special Commendation.
Contents
E = written in English
S = translated from Sinhala
T = translated from Tamil
19 Introduction
Aazhiyaal (b. 1968) T
37 Unheeded Sights
38 Manamperis
Bashana Abeywardane (b. 1972) S
39 The Window of the Present
Packiyanathan Ahilan (b. 1970) T
40 Days of the Bunker III
41 A Poem about Your Village and My Village
43 Corpse No. 182
43 Corpse No. 183. Newborn No. 02
Alari (b. 1976) T
44 When Someone Is Killed
44 A Lifeless Sea
45 The Sun Wanders, Searching for Shade
Liyanage Amarakeerthi (b. 1968) S
47 Once Upon a Foreign Country
49 Will We Find the Strings of the Veena?
52 A Poem's Plea
Premini Amerasinghe (b. 1933) E
52 The Matrimonial Column
53 A Rustic Scene
Indran Amirthanayagam (b. 1960) E
54 The Death Tree
55 Not Much Art
Anar (b. 1974) T
58 Killing a Woman
58 Woman
59 Zulaikha
Jean Arasanayagam (1931-2019) E
60 The Wasp
61 The Poet
62 A Country at War
63 Ancestors
Parvathi Solomons Arasanayagam (b. 1964) E
67 Identity
68 A Familiar Terrain
68 Human Driftwood
Thiagarajah Arasanayagam (b. 1934) E
69 Kappal Matha - Kayts
Ki. Pi. Aravindan (1953-2015) T
72 Look at the Sky
73 Directions
74 The Night Approaches
Upekala Athukorala (b. 1986) S
74 Snaggle tooth
75 Some Yashodaras
76 Crazy Woman
Avvai (b. 1965) T
77 The Homecoming
78 The Return
Thilakaratha Kuruvita Bandara (b. 1941) S
80 The Gods Alarmed, Descend to Earth
80 A Child's Pestering
Ruwan Bandujeeva (b. 1983) S
81 Earthworms
82 A Tree to its Flowers
82 A Joy - A Bliss
82 What Answers from the Common Crows?
Briyanthy (b. 1985) T
83 Sorrow Created and Sorrows Relieved
S. Bose (1975-2007) T
85 My life in Books
86 from The Veenai
86 Now
Suresh Canagarajah (b. 1957) E
87 Lavannya's Twilight Bike Ride
Cheliyan (1960-2018) T
88 Those Who Enter the Pit
89 Untitled
89 Merciless Ones
90 On a Rainy Day
Cheran (b. 1960) T
91 I Could Forget All This [1983]
92 My Land [1981]
94 Nandikadal [2009]
94 Grave Song
Rienzi Crusz (1925-2017) E
96 Song of the Immigrant
97 Leaving - Michael-style
98 The Elephant Who Would Be a Poet
A.P. David (b. 1964) E
99 Fishermen
Megan Dhakshini (b. 1983) E
100 In Lockdown
101 21
Wimal Dissanayake (b. 1939) S
101 Anuradhapura
102 Strange Flowering
103 Homecoming
103 Anjali
Dushyanthan (b. 1964) T
104 They Do Not Know
Patrick Fernando (1931-82) E
106 The Fire Dance
107 Aeneas and Dido
108 Ballad of a River
Sandra Fernando (———) E
109 ... and in the middle
110 Setting the Table for Dinner
112 Shirt
Ru Freeman (b. 1967) E
113 Erasure
114 Loose Change
114 In Your Hour of Need, God
Buddhadasa Galappathy (b. 1947) S
116 I Am Not Sita
117 Alms for King Vessantara
Kapila M. Gamage (———) S
118 Teriyum Kokila
119 Prayers to Konesvaran
V.V. Ganeshananthan (b. 1980) E
121 the faithful scholar dreams of being exact
121 from The Five-year Tongue Twisters
Yasmine Gooneratne (b. 1935) E
123 Horoscope
124 Peredeniya Landscape
124 The Brave Man Who Keeps Snakes as His Pets
Sunil Govinnage (b. 1950) E
126 The City of Light
126 My English Verse
127 On Becoming an Intellectual
Amali Gunasekera (b. 1971) E
128 How to Watch a Solar Eclipse in a Bowl of Water
129 from Beloved
130 Peace
Dayasena Gunasinghe (1936-96) S
131 The Blue of My Eyes
Siri Gunasinghe (1925-2017) S
133 A Memorial
134 The Water Buffalo
135 Renunciation
Yvonne Gunawardena (1926-2022) E
138 Homecoming
138 Ancestral Voices
139 Thoughts on a Train Journey
140 Letter to England
Romesh Gunesekera (b. 1954) E
141 The Big Wave
142 Circled by Circe
Rohitha Gunetilleke (b. 1954) E
144 Eventually
145 Cowboys
Aparna Halpé (———) E
146 Poson
147 5.45 at St George
Ashley Halpé (1933-2016) E
149 the tale of Divnuhamy
150 all our Aprils
151 The Second Reading
Tashyana Handy (b. 1998) E
152 C189
Lal Hegoda (b. 1947) S
154 I'm a Man Because You Are a River
155 Bhikku at the Ferry
Ajith C. Herath (b. 1967) S
156 Last Station
157 from Seven Dreams
Vipuli Hettiarachchi (b. 1968) S
160 We Are Women
161 Balachandran
161 'Iron Lady'
Eric Illayapparachchi (b. 1954) S
163 The Bomb at the Rooftop Restaurant
164 Against Colombo
Faheema Jahan (b. 1973) T
165 The Sea's Waters
166 After Catastrophe
V.I.S. Jayapalan (b. 1944) T
167 One Night in Frankfurt
168 Hope
169 Blue
169 from Song of the Defeated
Ramya Jegatheesan (b. 1993) E
172 from The Ariel Collection, Or, Colonise my tongue and laugh at the irony
A. Jesurasa (b. 1946) T
174 Under New Shoes
175 In Memory of the Nameless
176 Afterwards
176 Yet, Time Remains
Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe (b. 1971) E
178 Food for My Daughter
179 On Waiting with a Friend Getting His Heart Tested
Madri Kalugala (b. 1990) E
180 Last night I dreamed your horse had died
181 Sundowning
Karunakaran (b. 1963) T
182 Along That Very Road
183 Burning Nests
184 The Warrior Who Could Not Part from His Shadow
U. Karunatilake (———) E
185 Letter from Boralanda
186 Hometown
Timran Keerthi (b. 1980) S
187 The Forgotten Book
George Keyt (1901-93) E
189 Kandyan Village
Parakrama Kodituwakku (b. 1943) S
195 Court Inquiry of a Revolutionary.
196 An Unfinished Lesson
197 Little Brother
Senerath Gonsal Korala (———) S
199 The Song of a New Shawl
Sita Kulatunga (1930s-2014) E
200 Pitu padam namamaham (I worship at the feet of my father)
201 Why
Neetha Kunaratnam (b. 1976) E
202 The Afterlife
203 Poppy
204 Beeline
Latha (b. 1968) T
205 from Untitled
Sundra Lawrence (b. 1975) T
208 Gold
208 Rassam
Mahakavi (1927-71) T
209 Ahalikai
212 from Birth
213 from Excellence
Sunanada Mahendra (b. 1938) S
215 The Mountain
Imaad Majeed (b. 1991) E
216 arma christi
217 'keppetipola mawatha'
Sharanya Manivannan (b. 1985) E
219 The Mothers
220 River
Arji Manuelpillai (b. 1981) E
221 credit card
221 after the Sri Lankan bombing that kills 360 (after the 20-year war that killed significantly more)
222 after being called a paki
Mishal Mazin (b. 1994) E
223 Rajagiriya
224 Té Kadé
Ciara Mandulee Mendis (b. 1991) E
226 The Dancing Woman at Embekke
227 SWOT Analysis on Marriage
Tyrrell Mendis (1934-2021) E
228 Pivot
228 Spring Morning
Carl Muller (1935-2019) E
229 Deiyyo Saakki!
233 Que sera, sera
R. Murugaiyan (1935-2009) T
234 Variations
236 Toil
236 Aboard a Van
Neelaavanan (1931-75) T
238 Sleep
239 Murungaikaai
240 Faster, Faster
Nilanthan (b. 1970) T
241 End of an Age 2
241 Kanji Song 1
242 The Mother of Two Martyrs
243 Pina Koorai
S. Niroshini (b. 1984) E
244 Neruda's Last Word(s)
245 Period Party /
246 Girl, Ceylon
M.A. Nuhman (b. 1944) T
249 from Saluting Heroic Vietnam from the Corners of Our Little Village
250 Last Evening, This Morning
252 Buddha Murdered
Michael Ondaatje (b. 1943) E
253 Letters & Other Worlds
255 The Cinnamon Peeler
257 House on a Red Cliff
S. Pathmanathan (b. 1939) T
258 See Through
259 A Thorn in My Flesh
Vihanga Perera (b. 1984) E
260 The Playwright
261 The Memory of Fragrance
Kasro Ponnuthurai (b. 1995) T
262 Amir's Lover
S. Porawagamage (b. 1993) E
265 My Kinda Name
266 The Wings
266 The First Name
Pramil (1939-97) T
268 The Desert
268 (your) Name
269 The Great Wind Tamer
Shirani Rajapakse (b. 1967) E
269 Unwanted
270 Chant of a Million Women
S. Rajasingham (b. 1927) T
272 Lizards
T. Ramalingam (1933-2008) T
273 The Future
Anne Ranasinghe (1925-2016) E
275 Judgement
276 At What Dark Point
278 July 1983
Ariyawansa Ranaweera (b. 1942) S
279 Today's Lion
280 The Giraffe
281 Paintings at Gothami Vihara
282 The Intersection
Eva Ranaweera (1924-2010) E
283 In the Street of the Pearl Tree
Chalani Ranwala (b. 1991) E
284 The in-betweeners
A.M. Rashmy (b. 1974) T
285 from Songs in a Time of Confinement
Sahanika Ratnayake (b. 1989) E
287 from Murmur
288 from Case Study #1: Vocabulary Lesson
289 Case Study #3: Chariot
Vidyan Ravinthiran (b. 1984) E
290 Uncanny Valley
291 Ceylon
291 The Annupoorunyamal
Monica Ruwanpathirana (1947-2004) S
293 My Grief
293 Wife Lamenting
294 from Your Friend She Is Woman
Pubudu Sachithanandan (b. 1980) E
295 Anthem: The war is over
Minoli Salgado (b. 1960s) E
297 Blood Witness
298 Telegraph
A. Sankari (b. 1948) T
299 Living and Dying
300 In Their Eyes
Dipti Saravanamuttu (b. 1960) E
301 Among the Icons
302 Landscape Art
304 Line Drawing
305 Flying North in Winter
Peter Scharen (———) E
306 Landscape
306 Winter Lines
307 Transitory
Mahagama Sekera (1929-76) S
308 The Moon and New York City.
309 No. 16
309 No. 24
310 See Yourself in My Poetry
Selvi (1960-91) T
311 Summertime
312 Raman, like Raavanan
312 Within Me
G.B. Senanayake (1913-85) S
314 Philosophers and Pundits
Dishani Senaratne (b. 1986) E
316 Dreams
316 Lament
Gamini Seneviratne (———) E
317 Tune for Ariel
319 Nangi
319 Arjuna
Malinda Seneviratne (b. 1965) E
320 Nangi
321 Oil-bullets
321 Mitsi
Seni Seneviratne (b. 1951) E
322 Dear Mum
323 Opus Tesselatum
324 Slave Lodge, Cape Town
Natchathiran Sevvinthiyan (b. 1974) T
326 Until My Wineglass Was Empty
326 Kokkatticholai 166
Sharmila Seyyid (b. 1982) T
327 Three Dreams
328 Keys to an Empty Home
329 Fire
Alfreda de Silva (1930-2001) E
330 Grassfields in Sunlight
331 Cormorants and Children
331 The End of Something
332 Kotmale
Lakshmi de Silva (b. 1936) E
333 Tangalla, 9th April 1971
334 Addition and Subtraction
S.J. Sindu (b. 1987) E
335 Gods in the Surf
335 For Sale: 1997 Christmas Barbie, $600
Regi Siriwardena (1922-2004) E
337 Birthday Apology and Apologia
340 Colonial Cameo
340 To the Muse of Insomnia
Shirani Situnayake (b. 1957) E
341 Beginnings
Shanmugam Sivalingam (1936-2012) T
342 Nowadays
342 Unsung Songs
343 In Memory of Our Songs
Sumathy Sivamohan (b. 1959) E
345 on reading the astonishing novel 'mm' by shoba shakthi
S. Sivaramani (1968-91) T
347 Oppressed by Nights of War
348 [Untitled]
S. Sivasegaram (b. 1942) T
350 from Faces of War
Solaikili (b. 1957) T
353 The Story of a Golden River
354 A Refugee Poet Talking to the Moon
Isuru Chamara Somaweera (b. 1981) S
355 The Little Fellow
356 My Pillow Is Wet
357 Mother's Actress Friend
357 The Meaning of Life.
Sandaresee Sudusinghe (b. 1984) S
358 from Gini Wadunu Piyapath
Pireeni Sundaralingam (b. 1977) E
360 Lot's Wives
361 Fugue
362 Times Two
Yasmin V. Tambiah (b. 1961) E
364 The Civil War
365 Sandalwood
M.J.T. Tambimuttu (1915-83) E
366 My Country, My Village
Theepachelvan (b. 1983) T
369 The Lost Kitten
370 A Friend Stands Behind Me
371 An Unpublished Poem
Ajith Thilakasena (b. 1933) S
371 Where
372 I do not know if...
Thiru Thirukkumaran (b. 1978) T
373 Resurrection
374 This Is How the Buddha Disappeared
375 A Detached Feather
Thirumavalavan (1955-2015) T
376 Mullaitivu
376 Living
Shash Trevett (b. 1974) E
377 Uduvil, Nightfall
378 The Sinhala Only Act, 1956
379 My Grandfather's House
Urvasi (b. 1956) T
380 Do You Understand?
381 Why Must We Wait?
Vivimarie Vanderpoorten (———) E
382 Cadaver
383 Traditional
384 Diplomatic
S. Vilvaratnam (1950-2006) E
385 There Was a Time
386 The Echo of Moonlight
S. Vinothini (b. 1969) T
388 The Mask Maker
389 The Night
Nandana Weerasinghe (———) S
390 The Moon-shadow
390 Full Moon on a Dewdrop.
391 Kalidasa and the Moon
392 Something Square-shaped
Rushika Wick (b. 1973) E
393 Hair
393 Ultramarine Pink PV15
394 Yellow Phone in the Yellow House
Illavalai Wijayendran (b. 1961) T
395 To Those Who Bear Sticks
395 The Missing Children
396 The Veenai and the Sword
Ratna Sri Wijesinghe (b. 1953) S
397 Two Teardrops
398 from The Motherless Two
Lakdasa Wikkramasinha (1941-78) E
400 Don't Talk to Me about Matisse
400 The Flames, 1972
401 Luis de Camoes
402 Middle
Richard de Zoysa (1958-90) E
402 Animal Crackers
404 Corporation Love Song (1)
405 [as Angela de Silva] Gajagavannama
406 The Poet
409 Translators
415 Acknowledgements
