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A T Dharmapriya, BUT EVERY GULL IS NOT CALLED JONATHAN L, Cheran, Dry Season: Riverside, I’m A Man Because You Are A River, Lal Hegoda, Richard de Zoysa, S Pathmanathan
LAL HEGODA
I’m A Man Because You are A River
On this river bank
in a most pleasant seat
under a cool canopy
of Kumbuk trees
I will rest awhile
for a brief respite in life
Here and there in the high canopy
caressed by long fingers
red leaves rustle in the breeze
they move and show
the blue sky in a floral pattern.
its shadow falling on the water
breaking into a thousand little fragments.
When the sun’s brassy rays
flow along with the river
the jeweled lights
float in the soft darkness beneath the canopy
the grandeur is beyond words
and only a poet can sing of it.
Free from other ‘samsaric bonds’
my mind falls in love
As with a language so familiar
I understand what you say so coyly
smiling like the foam
as you go winding along
amidst the rocks
breaking into a symphony
I will throw away the watch in my hand
I will throw away the shoes on my feet.
Leaving you where else can I go?
As I shed my clothes
one now and then another
I see my own body’s image
like a dark shadow
Because I am a man
and you are a river
let’s melt softly
in a loving embrace.
Is there another way?
Translated by A T Dharmapriya
In 2007, the National Book Trust published a collection of Sri Lankan Short Stories I had edited, entitled ‘Bridging Connections’. Typically, it has not sold well in this country. This is a pity, because it also introduced stories written originally in Sinhala and Tamil. It would have been good for at least the English speaking who did not know one or other of those languages to appreciate thoughts they otherwise could not register.