Shirani Rajapakse Poems

Biting cold in a foreign land, dressed
in cotton for a Sri Lankan summer. Chilled

to the bone I watch the boats come in. Frozen
...

Singers practice for tonight's show.
It's a major performance

for the mosquitoes flown in from
...

The sweat streams
Down her cheeks
And loses itself
In her
...

Pepper spray for Wall Street,
rubber bullets for Tahrir Square.

The police have taken over, a law unto
...

Hands across the world we are
the masses. We protest injustice
that those in high office calls
justice. We weather the spray,
...

Out of the ruins of war rose a voice
so calm it took us by surprise. Was this
peace? We rejoiced and marveled at
the thought.
...

Lifting, moving,
bowing. Blue stripes
on loose white cover
skin and bone too
...

Give me a sip of water
for my lips are parched, my throat too dry
to speak and I will sing you a song
of the Sahel as I remember it. A song soft
...

The aroma from my coffee wafts
through the room. The sweet
taste of the doughnut lingers in my
mouth as I sit in cushioned
...

The men ride through the night. Their horses
gallop to time on the sands as they
move through the dust rising, rising like a cloud.
And as they move they sing.
...