කුරුළු අනියම් පෙම

පෙම්බරා
එනු මැන
කිරිල්ලිය  හා කුරුළු පැටවුන්
අතහැර
මා වෙත ...

බැඳීම් ඉරා විසිකර 
නැවතත්
බැඳෙන්නට
ඇගේ තටු සිඳ දමා
මා හා ඉගිලෙන්නට
කුරුළු පැටවුන් පෙළා
මා හා කිචි බිචි ගාන්නට

පෙම්බරා
එනු මැන විගස
මා කූඩුවක්
තනන්නට පෙර ...

By Jahooli Devi

උත්තර නෑ

පූසට කොච්චර කන්න දුන්නත් 
මීයෝ පස්සෙන් පන්නන්නේ ඇයි?

මී මැස්සෝ හැමදාම පැණි බිව්වත් 
සීනි වැඩි නැත්තේ ඇයි ?   

සලඹයා කොච්චර ලස්සන උනත්
සමනළයා විතරක් ජනප්‍රිය ඇයි ? 

කුරුල්ලෝ ත්  සින්දු කියනවනම් 
සුපර් ස්ටාර් යන්නේ නැත්තේ ඇයි ?


By Jahooli Devi

Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly

Sometimes you need freedom. Perhaps you may think, being in the same nest always is an imprisonment. I understand that. Suddenly you  fly far away. You never tell me, where you are going. I never ask you. You are always like that.

When I woke up in this morning, I searched for you. Then I realized you are not by my side. I remember very well, last night you were sleeping with me, just by my side. Before you fell into sleep, you touched my weary feathers with your pinky beak. It was not a dream. Because I can see one of your feather's inside my nest.

This is your routine. You do this from time to time. Perhaps, this nest is not warm and comfortable enough for you. Maybe, you don't like to eat the same food everyday. Same ambiance every day, that’s boring. I know, you are different than me. You think like a rebel, you dream about life always, you can never be a caged bird. That's why I like you this much too.

I remember one of my great grandparents told:

“There are birds that fly very far, even over the oceans, so they can migrate to other countries. They can avoid hard times & difficult places.  One day they come again when everything is fine." 

I am amazed, I’m not that type. Once I remember, when I went to the village by mistake, one boy pointed at me & said:

“Here, Look at this…. it is an “endemic bird”

I did not t realize what that boy said about me on that day. But now I know.

Suddenly, I am astonished what is happening in front of my eyes. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. You alighted on the twig of the big banyan tree. I looked at you all amazed. Then you started to twitter.  But, it was not you! Just a dream.

Sometimes you told me, the adventures that you have faced.  I was just listening to them with widened eyes, those stories were filled with full of adventures, like how you escaped humans traps, how you flew across  valleys & deserts, even in the winter. It was fascinating.

I realized  that you want to make sure that there are nice places to live in this world rather than residing here in Tropics forever. Or may be you are looking for an eternal stop to spend your life.  Perhaps, you are looking for a better partner. A companion who likes adventures like you do and live with him. Because I remember once you mumbled to yourself,

 "Next time when I meet, I tell him the truth, I can’t suffer this way..... I'm such a nice bird… he must pay more attention to me ".

Not only that, I remember  few months back, you came to me with weary feathers all pale looking. You sighed for weeks, didn’t eat much. But I didn’t ask.... because I thought, if I had asked you the reason, you might have got exhausted with my stupid questions. After a few days, you flew away again.

Sometimes.... I also want to fly with you long journeys, although I'm scared. (But you never asked me to come with you). Again, I think... no I must go alone and find my own adventures like you do. But... again, I think... if I also go away...

“Who will be there to welcome you? When you come back after your adventures?"

By Manu Fernando

Title quoted from the poem dreams by Langston Hughes

Embrace her to your home

The whirlwind
shattered 
the lovely nest
in the mountains

to bits & pieces

Petite darling birdie
lost her home ,

wandered aimlessly

for many years

till she came in search of you

Over the mountains 
across the sky
just to be with you... 

Embrace her to your home

Where else she could go?

The whirlwind
shattered 
the lovely nest
in the mountains

to bits & pieces

Orphan, Alone

gazing at the deserted horizon

She has only tears

to keep herself warm everyday...

You are a solo bird king,

My dear friend, 

Let her make a home

in your cozy nest..

Translated by Jahooli Devi

සුළං කපොල්ලේ තැනූ කැදැල්ලේ...
කෑලි කැඩී බිඳී වැටේ නිල් කඳු රැල්ලේ...

කූඩු කැඩී තැන තැන ගිය පුංචි කිරිල්ලී...
දැන් ඔබ ලඟ සිටී රුවක් විලස නොසෙල්ලී...
යොදුන් ගණන් ඔබමැ සොයා ආ සියුමැල්ලී...
පිලිගනු ඈ කොහි යන්ටද නැවත ඉගිල්ලී...

ඇයට මවක් පියෙක් නොමැත ක්සිතිජ වළල්ලේ...
කඳුළ පමණි ඇයට උරුම දවස මුළුල්ලේ...
ඔබ තනිකඩ කුරුලු රජෙකි වෙසෙන නිදැල්ලේ...
ඇයට ළැගුම් දෙන්න සබඳ ඔබේ කැදැල්ලේ...

Song by Nanda Malini
Lyrics: Prof. Sunil Ariyarathne

Two crows on the electric wire

I went to wash my hands

from the water tap

under the Lime tree,

I saw them

above me

on the electric wire

just before the sunset,

these two crows

probably

a woman crow & a man crow

pitch black,

against the red sky

without talking to each other much

after another

heavy day

of crowing 

Such a pest !

I thought

en ramassant

the Limes on the floor

avant qu'ils ne pourissent...

By Jahooli Devi

Pour toi Mon Amour ( For you My Love )

Pour Toi Mon Amour 

par Jacques Prévert

Je suis allé au marché aux oiseaux
Et j’ai acheté des oiseaux
Pour toi
Mon amour

I went to the bird market

And I bought birds

For you

My Love

Je suis allé au marché aux fleurs

Et j’ai acheté des fleurs
Pour toi
Mon amour

I went to the flower market

And I bought  flowers

For you

My Love

Je suis allé au marché à la ferraille
Et j’ai acheté des chaînes
De lourdes chaînes
Pour toi
Mon amour

I went to the metal market

And I bought chains

Very heavy chains

For you

My Love

Et je suis allé au marché aux esclaves
Et je t’ai cherchée
Mais je ne t’ai pas trouvée
Mon amour

Then I went to the slave market

And I searched for you

But, I could not find 

You

My Love

Translated by Jahooli Devi