100 Words Since 1997
View(s):Happy New Year to all our readersand writers. Thank you for your contributions on the 100 word page on “Joy” it is interesting to see how many writers had connected joy with sadness, perhaps understanding we cannot exist without the other.
The theme for February is “Short” please send in your contributions before Feb. 2, 2016 to the 100 Word Page, Madhubhashini Disanayaka-Ratnayake, C/O The Sunday Times, No. 8 Hunupitiya Cross Road, Colombo 2. N.B. Work sent to this page may be edited.
Bundle Of Joy
Joy it was when the nurse handed me
“bundle of Joy”
His little sister skipped around me
And kissed his little feet
Saying “This from Santa, a Toy
Not from a stork, Mamma”
But when she peeped over and
Saw him at my breast, she screamed
“He’s biting you Mamma” and gave him a slap
The result is history – she still thinks
She cannot forgive herself.
Sheila Bandaranayake
Kandy.
Promise
Dejected and dry, parched as the brown dust,
I stood at my door and waited.
The sky darkened and billowing breezes
Whipped my hair.
I closed my door and latched windows tight.
Then, I glimpsed a shaft of golden sunlight
Bathing the garden wall,
Where puffs of indigo blossoms sprayed their brightness
Against the snow-white glare.
I opened my door and reached to grasp that sudden joy.
Rain-refreshed, the blossoms reached out to me.
And I began to trust anew in the hoped-for promise:
That life and love will flower
In the darkest depths.
Faith Ratnayake
Katuwawala, Boralesgamuwa.
Email: faith@sltnet.lk
Siblings
How dutifully he had laboured
To earn enough for his dream
An expensive car model.
His eager eyes scanned the toys
There were five fine models.
A gorgeous China doll
Smiling from her box
Caught his speculating eye.
Suddenly, he could see
His twin sister’s wistful look
As he had carefully counted his earnings
One day I will get a job too,
And buy a beautiful doll,
She had remarked
The models lost their charm
He bought the doll instead
And headed home bound
Whistling gaily
Bursting with more joy
Than a multitude of models
Could bestow
Rebekah A. Fernando
Moment of Joy
I sit on the “pila” on a read mat
With my back to the wall
Waiting for you
Twilight has fallen
Lingers long in June
I am still waiting for you
In the twilight’s last gleaming
A star glitters like a diamond chip
Drooping with loneliness
Lamps still unlit
I am waiting for you.
Suddenly a shadow falls
Between me and the twilight
And my heart gives a leap!
I hear your dear footfall
I weep with joy
As you walk in and hug me
And give me a reassuring smile.
Kamala Gunasekera
Nugegoda