Kingfisher

Woman 4

She hears the rain patter like
No tomorrow and she sees
The blooms of hibiscuses, as yellow as a big canary
On a children’s TV show.
She smells the aroma of a cup of tea
And sips the ginger tea to ward off a bout of flu.
And she looks at the blue bird in the garden,
A kingfisher on a bending branch,
And wishes for the scrupulous eye to see through
The surface of water, to taste her bounty,
Swimming with no care in the world.
And all she wants is to remind herself
To feel for a fleeting eternity, the purchase
Of a lifeform that clings onto her,
Like a pair of lips, gripping another,
Squirming in sheer delirium.

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. View all posts by Curiosity-driven life (Dilantha Gunawardana)