There are historical paintings,
That are priceless, like the girl
With the pearl earring, the Mona Lisa
Of the northern renaissance.
So what is it about earrings,
That draws our attention….?????
They are pricked into yellow cartilage
To embellish two ear lobes,
Which is, more a tradition of the girl child,
Than it is anatomical bling-bling.
And here you find a custom,
Just like the girl with the pearl earing,
That is inconspicuous to the child
Who will only learn the art of the mirror-gaze
And personal worth, much much later,
When she discovers that the prized rubies are not
What hangs from the ends of ears,
Only a giant ruby housed inside a chamber
Called a pericardium, that lives
Bigger than just being a piece of anatomy,
Worthy only of one pining feeling,
That aches even without a wound.
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Published by meandererworld (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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