Devika Fernando

Last night the moon fell at my feet
Making disaster complete
A sign of total defeat
Last night the moon committed suicide
Leaving behind a darker night
Thus ending the fight

Paddy-field terraces
Full of hidden crevices
Tea-bush slopes
Where aroma elopes
You never know what pattern will show
You just follow the geometry’s flow

Gossip leaps from tongue to tongue
Like a hungry stray dog hunting
Equally immersed in filth

Narrow hair-pin passages gone astray
Hair-pin removing jolts on the way
Passangers openly swearing
Car and body need repairing
Would you come close to despairing?

Trading treasured traditions
For treacherous trendy trivia
Has become a bad habit here
In itself almost another tradition