When Weerasena (1) was interdicted
And the sun was on fire
Above the textile factory
Shouting slogans
Screaming hoarsely
Brother Nadesan(2)
At the flaming pickets
I was a Tamil

When Weere(3) got the job back
Riding on the shoulders
“Long live brother Nade(4)….!”
The victorious king
In the victory parade
I was a Tamil

When Siripala(1) was shot
By the squad breaking the strike
Took him in my own hands
And flew to the hospital
I was a Tamil

Both hands punctured
With saline tubes
“Nade, you are my saviour”
Sira(4), you embraced me sobbing
I was a Tamil.

When Kusum(1) was pregnant
And dying on a hospital bed
They never demanded
Sinhalese blood
But just “O” negative
Only I happened to have
I was a Tamil.

“Son, you belong to uncle Nade”
the newborn
Was put in my hands
With tears flowing
Yet, I was a Tamil.

Weere, I hear your slogan
Suppressing the shouting
At the picket line
“Slay the Tamils! …

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Do not question
the numbers
when speaking of
your dead sons
in the field of war.
accept quietly
your death dues.
Hush! Don’t worry!
just in case
you trouble
Our Army Officers.

Gentlemen of the Black Robes,
you who were called traitors,
we know your Glory!
Hush! Shut your ears!
No Legal Action against
The Power Holders now
just in case
you distress
Their Leader.

A billion ends with nine zeros!
war is indeed costly
on what, pray, was it all spent?
Hush! No questions please!
Just in case
you embarrass
Our Rulers.

The liberated are free
in detention camps,
should another
Liberator descend to
free them.
Hush, Make no noise!
just is case
Our Sensitive Parliament
collapses
At such Heavy Questions.

Do not inquire
about the corpses
appearing here and there
of course, once in a way
Disappearances do Happen!
Hush! Don’t worry!
just in case
The Power and Glory
of our King
that rises by the day
Shatters.

Hungry? Just a little patience!
don’t you know?
this is …

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“These are Elephants, Those are Tamils”1
-words from a friend.

Baby Elephants- dearly beloved elders were killed before their tender eyes
Baby Elephants-arms, legs, teeth shriveled with the pain of the bullet
Baby Elephants- loose wrinkled skin hangs off starving, haunted frames
Baby Elephants-left over remnants of humanity scraped up from
The scorching earth of Vanni

Yes, they are Tamil.

Baby Elephants-no newspapers flare up for them in bold headlines
Baby Elephants-no person steps into the streets to demand their well-being
Baby Elephants-no believers in Ahimsa to speak for them, the intellectuals are mute
Baby Elephants-no one to beat their chest wailing “aney” “apoi”2 at their fate

Yes, they are Tamil.

you know
that your mothers
lie dead.
breasts heavy with
the swollen pain
of hardened milk.

you know
that your fathers
lie dead
who stomped the earth
trumpeting …

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Stop this struggle
He pleads
Of his comrades
A revolutionary leader
Broken in pain
In State Custody

They set me on the wrong path
He blames,
pointing to his friends
A young rebel in a
Lonely rehabilitation camp
Dreaming of a quick release.

He frets about the cruelty
of his Organization
on Rupavahini.1
Thinking
some good may come of it
An old retired warrior
Now surrendered into
Military Custody.

Praising the military loudly
He serves
sambhar2 into Sinhala plates.
A Tamil waiter
in Colombo
fearing his own
Sudden Disappearance.

The Sad Truths he brought
from a forbidden war zone
are untrue
He recants
to the Rupavahini amidst
a circle of
Military Weapons.
A doctor
who treated
thousands of wounded.

Her daughter was a traitor
Disowns a Sinhala mother
of her daughter who died
of a Sinhala bullet
for a Tamil homeland.
an elderly agitated voice
amongst those celebrating an
Ultimate victory.

I see
the desolation of
an Abandoned
Cause
beneath these
Renunciations.
and read
through
the distance
eyes
heavy with
guilt.

Yet..

If only these
spoken words
had …

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