The cigarette slowly burns.
There are no sounds in the surroundings,
Solitude is a gay old time
Defined by the altruism of cigarette.
Inhaling the nicotine, I look around
At my garden, the honeysuckles
Deadly yet beautiful, the anthuriums
Like sails on top of a boat,
The orchids, as mauve as the decorated
Courage of an American soldier,
And as I burn, I know that a cigarette
Is just a transient habit, a pastime
That makes me aloof. Like the last
Remaining mango in the mango tree,
Eyed by the squirrels, glowing
Like a moon in the sky, luster
Reflected off her peel. I remember
My grandmother, in her last days
Just like the mango, still a source of light
Enlightening me with stories
From her past. There was nothing
To do but listen to her weak voice
Knowing that the end was nigh.
She was like that lone mango on the tree
That fell with a thud, to the awaiting ground,
The jaws of death, like squirrel teeth
Had gripped into her fragile heart
And taken a fatal chunk.
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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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