Water colour wonders
jjk
Poems of farewell to a departing President
The Escalator
I was half dreaming
Standing still but moving
I was going down
Others by my side coming up
Many stood still
Others pushing past me
In a hurry
Where were their thoughts
Mine was in a haze
Seeing but not observing
Then I saw her
In the distance looking up
In the distance coming up slowly
A figure in a million
Head tossed back carelessly
A sensuous but sad face
She is now almost at my level
Will she recognise me
My throat went dry
My heart was beating fast
She looked at me and caught my eye
Just a faint smile, a twitch
I looked back as she went up
She was looking at me
A smile crossed her face
I went limp and flushed
Nearly fell off as I reached the end
She remembered me!
She remembered me!
– Mahendra Gonsalkorale –
A Portrait: Prof Carlo Fonseka
Loss of a Legend
Orator, Scientist, Lyricist, Marxist
Teacher, Scholar, Doctor, Mentor
Multifaceted, Multitalented
Endless list,
As a Legend departs, leaving heavy hearts.
Teacher, Scholar, Doctor, Mentor
Multifaceted, Multitalented
Endless list,
As a Legend departs, leaving heavy hearts.
Inspiration to many, shaping, guiding
Provoking thoughts, touched many lives
The Foreword you wrote, advice I cherish
A light extinguished, though not from hearts
Loss to the Nation, no small measure
For you Dear Sir, were a National treasure.
Medicine & politics mixed with flare
Courting controversy without fear nor fare
Breaking barriers & myths with equal vigour
Dared to tread fire; question the Creator
Even in death your body is teaching
That light of learning eternally lit.
Sir, long may your legacy live
Enriching, inspiring tomorrow’s World.
Timeless Sir, the role you played
For many in different walks of life
Indelible Sir, are the footsteps left
In the sands of Lanka’s Medical peers.
වෙද නලාවත් , බට නලාවත්
හෙල කලාවත් , සිසු විවාදත්
කාලෝචිත ගී රටාවත්,
එකට මෙහෙයූ ශූරයෙකි ඔබ
වියෝ වී ඇත ලොවින් ළගදී .
හෙල කලාවත් , සිසු විවාදත්
කාලෝචිත ගී රටාවත්,
එකට මෙහෙයූ ශූරයෙකි ඔබ
වියෝ වී ඇත ලොවින් ළගදී .
ගී පොතේ මගෙ, පෙරවදනෙ ලියු
ඔබේ ඔවදන් නිම් නාද දෙයි අද,
ගමන් නිමකල ගුරු පියානෙනි
සමුගනිමු අපි ඔබෙන් සදහට .
දෙව් බල නොතකා, බාධක බිදදා
ගිනි දළු පැගුව, තර්ක විශාරද
දේහය දන් දී, ඉගෙනුම උදෙසා
නික්මුනේ ඔබ නිවනුත් නොපතා.
පීඨයේ වෙද ඔබ තබා ගියෙ
පාද සටහන් සදා නොමැකෙන
තාවකාලික අපේ ජීවිත
අමරණීයයි ඔබේ නාමය .
Rasieka Jayatunga
