The walls, the ramparts
Preserve the eroded structures.
And if you’re lucky enough
You will see the lone horse
Grazing on a patch of grass stubs,
Lost to his own bubbling hunger.
Oblivious of strange-colored eyes that loiter
The surroundings.
While in the restaurants
Coffee is being served, over-prized yet
Delicately flavored in hazel nut or cinnamon
A reminder that this outpost,
Even now – as historically – is a fusion
Of colonial genes and native blood.
And still you will see the beggar
Milk the tourist for a 100 rupee note.
And bare and threadbare living side by side
In bikinis and rags. Much like the fortress
That has lost much of his native splendor but survives
On counterfeit beauty.
How little coats of white paint
Make the rugged first-lady of the sea
A born-again virgin, sought by the courter
For an intercourse with beauty.
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Published by Curiosity-driven life (Dilantha Gunawardana)
Dr Dilantha Gunawardana graduated from the University of Melbourne, as a molecular biologist, and moonlights as a poet. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Botany, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Dilantha lives in a chimeric universe of science and poetry. Dilantha’s poems have been accepted for publication /published in HeartWood Literary Magazine, Canary Literary Magazine, Boston Accent, Forage, Kitaab, Eastlit, American Journal of Poetry, Zingara Poetry Review, The Wagon and Ravens Perch, among others. Dilantha too has two anthologies of poetry, 'Kite Dreams' (2016) and 'Driftwood' (2017), both brought to the readership by Sarasavi Publishers, and is working on his third poetry collection (The Many Constellations of Home). Dilantha’s pet areas of teaching and research, include, Nitrogen Fixation, RNA biology, Phytoremediation, Agricultural Biology, and Bioethics & Biosafety. Dilantha blogs at – https://meandererworld.wordpress.com/ -, where he has nearly 2000 poems.
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