Love Poems, poem, poems, poetry

Rejection

Posted by Curiosity-driven life (Dilantha Gunawardana) on 22 Aug 2017

You just had a poem
Rejected by the New Yorker.

The foul smell of defeat, you’re accustomed to,,
Volatilizes like a solution of slippery ether.

And all that remains at the end,
Is a different aether, the fifth element

Flaming on your sixth sense,
No phlogiston, just a perfect medium,

With no room for air, fire, earth nor water,
Cheering you on to a somewhat bullet-proof moment,

When you graft a victory, that
Is both pyrrhic and melancholic,

Like the moment I finally lost my virginity
On the marriage bed – I was 38 years old.

I was no longer a virgin, perhaps only a little bewildered
At how overrated making love was. Sigh!

Now I look at my name on a journal page,
– A published poet; and all I want to do

Is to get on bed, to reenact love
For the umpteenth time.

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)