Mirrored Images – 12

Tags

A T Dharmapriya, A. IQBAL, Martyrs, Mirrored Images: An Anthology of Sri Lankan Poetry, Parakrama Kodituwakku, Patrick Fernando, poems, Poetry, S Sivasegar, The Fisherman Mourned by His Wife, The Sun Tarry a While

PARAKRAMA KODITUWAKKU

 

The Sun Tarry a While

 

Father is still at work…..

I, starting to pant early

am resting my head

on a clump of grass

in the chena

watching the distance far away.

 

Like small silver blades

the grass blades sprout.

A red ant wanders

along my shirt sleeve.

A song drops down

from open bird-beaks.

Pods of flowers leap up

splitting the earth’s skin.

 

Sacrificing its yellow yolk

the sun comes closer

 

Please stay awhile, sun

says my mind like a child

stay awhile, you, the sun!

 

The roads are only half done

only a little is written

in my letters

just one half the song is sung

the journey is not over yet.

It’s a long long way to go!

The flowers are yet to bloom fully

grant more time to put the house roof on

a lot more there is to learn.

You sun, please tarry awhile.

 

Translated by A T Dharmapriya

Bridging Connections – Poetry relating to conflict

Tags

Bridging Connections, Kamala Wijeratne, Karunakaran, Parakrama Kodituwakku, Poetry

After the oblique references to conflict in poems about the full moon, I thought I would deal direct with conflict this week. The first poem, by Parakrama Kodituwakku, was one of the most remarkable works of art associated with the first insurrection of 1971. I still recall reading it for the first time, in an Anthology of Sri Lankan writing produced by Ranjini Obeysekere and Chitra Fernando soon after I began teaching at Peradeniya. I believe it was the first book I was asked to review, and I think I made special mention of this poem.

The stereotyping by authorities of radical youth, if not subtle, makes clear the dichotomy between traditional expectations and modern aspirations. The translation by Ranjini Obeysekere captures in each stanza the different ways in which authority looks at the unorthodox. The last stanza, with its blend of diffidence and defiance, suggests the dilemma of the new generation; it illustrates too the long intellectual tradition of which the young rebels felt themselves the latest incarnation.

Bridging Connections – Property

Tags

Bridging Connections, On Moving into a Rented House, Parakrama Kodituwakku, Passion for Furniture, Poetry, Property, R Sivanandan, To My Son His Inheritance, Wickramasena Jayasekera

Poetry does not often deal with property. In itself, I suppose, this does not seem a very poetic subject. And the three poems brought together here are really about feelings, not property. The juxtaposition may also seem facile, in that the feelings depicted are very different in character. Still, it is interesting to explore the use made of houses and furniture to convey essential aspects of the Sri Lankan experience.