This first ever anthology of Sri Lankan and diasporic poetry features over 100 poets writing in English, or translated from Tamil and Sinhala. It highlights a long-neglected national literature. Poets long out of print appear beside exciting new talents; works written in the country converse with poetry from the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.

E = written in English S = translated from Sinhala T = translated from Tamil 19 Introduction Aazhiyaal (b. 1968) T 37 Unheeded Sights 38 Manamperis Bashana Abeywardane (b. 1972) S 39 The Window of the Present Packiyanathan Ahilan (b. 1970) T 40 Days of the Bunker III 41 A Poem about Your Village and My Village 43 Corpse No. 182 43 Corpse No. 183. Newborn No. 02 Alari (b. 1976) T 44 When Someone Is Killed 44 A Lifeless Sea 45 The Sun Wanders, Searching for Shade Liyanage Amarakeerthi (b. 1968) S 47 Once Upon a Foreign Country 49 Will We Find the Strings of the Veena? 52 A Poem’s Plea Premini Amerasinghe (b. 1933) E 52 The Matrimonial Column 53 A Rustic Scene Indran Amirthanayagam (b. 1960) E 54 The Death Tree 55 Not Much Art Anar (b. 1974) T 58 Killing a Woman 58 Woman 59 Zulaikha Jean Arasanayagam (1931–2019) E 60 The Wasp 61 The Poet 62 A Country at War 63 Ancestors Parvathi Solomons Arasanayagam (b. 1964) E 67 Identity 68 A Familiar Terrain 68 Human Driftwood Thiagarajah Arasanayagam (b. 1934) E 69 Kappal Matha – Kayts Ki. Pi. Aravindan (1953–2015) T 72 Look at the Sky 73 Directions 74 The Night Approaches Upekala Athukorala (b. 1986) S 74 Snaggle tooth 75 Some Yashodaras 76 Crazy Woman Avvai (b. 1965) T 77 The Homecoming 78 The Return Thilakaratha Kuruvita Bandara (b. 1941) S 80 The Gods Alarmed, Descend to Earth 80 A Child’s Pestering Ruwan Bandujeeva (b. 1983) S 81 Earthworms 82 A Tree to its Flowers 82 A Joy – A Bliss 82 What Answers from the Common Crows? Briyanthy (b. 1985) T 83 Sorrow Created and Sorrows Relieved S. Bose (1975–2007) T 85 My life in Books 86 from The Veenai 86 Now Suresh Canagarajah (b. 1957) E 87 Lavannya’s Twilight Bike Ride Cheliyan (1960–2018) T 88 Those Who Enter the Pit 89 Untitled 89 Merciless Ones 90 On a Rainy Day Cheran (b. 1960) T 91 I Could Forget All This [1983] 92 My Land [1981] 94 Nandikadal [2009] 94 Grave Song Rienzi Crusz (1925–2017) E 96 Song of the Immigrant 97 Leaving – Michael-style 98 The Elephant Who Would Be a Poet A.P. David (b. 1964) E 99 Fishermen Megan Dhakshini (b. 1983) E 100 In Lockdown 101 21 Wimal Dissanayake (b. 1939) S 101 Anuradhapura 102 Strange Flowering 103 Homecoming 103 Anjali Dushyanthan (b. 1964) T 104 They Do Not Know Patrick Fernando (1931–82) E 106 The Fire Dance 107 Aeneas and Dido 108 Ballad of a River Sandra Fernando (———) E 109 … and in the middle 110 Setting the Table for Dinner 112 Shirt Ru Freeman (b. 1967) E 113 Erasure 114 Loose Change 114 In Your Hour of Need, God Buddhadasa Galappathy (b. 1947) S 116 I Am Not Sita 117 Alms for King Vessantara Kapila M. Gamage (———) S 118 Teriyum Kokila 119 Prayers to Konesvaran V.V. Ganeshananthan (b. 1980) E 121 the faithful scholar dreams of being exact 121 from The Five-year Tongue Twisters Yasmine Gooneratne (b. 1935) E 123 Horoscope 124 Peredeniya Landscape 124 The Brave Man Who Keeps Snakes as His Pets Sunil Govinnage (b. 1950) E 126 The City of Light 126 My English Verse 127 On Becoming an Intellectual Amali Gunasekera (b. 1971) E 128 How to Watch a Solar Eclipse in a Bowl of Water 129 from Beloved 130 Peace Dayasena Gunasinghe (1936–96) S 131 The Blue of My Eyes Siri Gunasinghe (1925–2017) S 133 A Memorial 134 The Water Buffalo 135 Renunciation Yvonne Gunawardena (1926–2022) E 138 Homecoming 138 Ancestral Voices 139 Thoughts on a Train Journey 140 Letter to England Romesh Gunesekera (b. 1954) E 141 The Big Wave 142 Circled by Circe Rohitha Gunetilleke (b. 1954) E 144 Eventually 145 Cowboys Aparna Halpé (———) E 146 Poson 147 5.45 at St George Ashley Halpé (1933–2016) E 149 the tale of Divnuhamy 150 all our Aprils 151 The Second Reading Tashyana Handy (b. 1998) E 152 C189 Lal Hegoda (b. 1947) S 154 I’m a Man Because You Are a River 155 Bhikku at the Ferry Ajith C. Herath (b. 1967) S 156 Last Station 157 from Seven Dreams Vipuli Hettiarachchi (b. 1968) S 160 We Are Women 161 Balachandran 161 ‘Iron Lady’ Eric Illayapparachchi (b. 1954) S 163 The Bomb at the Rooftop Restaurant 164 Against Colombo Faheema Jahan (b. 1973) T 165 The Sea’s Waters 166 After Catastrophe V.I.S. Jayapalan (b. 1944) T 167 One Night in Frankfurt 168 Hope 169 Blue 169 from Song of the Defeated Ramya Jegatheesan (b. 1993) E 172 from The Ariel Collection, Or, Colonise my tongue and laugh at the irony A. Jesurasa (b. 1946) T 174 Under New Shoes 175 In Memory of the Nameless 176 Afterwards 176 Yet, Time Remains Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe (b. 1971) E 178 Food for My Daughter 179 On Waiting with a Friend Getting His Heart Tested Madri Kalugala (b. 1990) E 180 Last night I dreamed your horse had died 181 Sundowning Karunakaran (b. 1963) T 182 Along That Very Road 183 Burning Nests 184 The Warrior Who Could Not Part from His Shadow U. Karunatilake (———) E 185 Letter from Boralanda 186 Hometown Timran Keerthi (b. 1980) S 187 The Forgotten Book George Keyt (1901–93) E 189 Kandyan Village Parakrama Kodituwakku (b. 1943) S 195 Court Inquiry of a Revolutionary. 196 An Unfinished Lesson 197 Little Brother Senerath Gonsal Korala (———) S 199 The Song of a New Shawl Sita Kulatunga (1930s–2014) E 200 Pitu padam namamaham (I worship at the feet of my father) 201 Why Neetha Kunaratnam (b. 1976) E 202 The Afterlife 203 Poppy 204 Beeline Latha (b. 1968) T 205 from Untitled Sundra Lawrence (b. 1975) T 208 Gold 208 Rassam Mahakavi (1927–71) T 209 Ahalikai 212 from Birth 213 from Excellence Sunanada Mahendra (b. 1938) S 215 The Mountain Imaad Majeed (b. 1991) E 216 arma christi 217 ‘keppetipola mawatha’ Sharanya Manivannan (b. 1985) E 219 The Mothers 220 River Arji Manuelpillai (b. 1981) E 221 credit card 221 after the Sri Lankan bombing that kills 360 (after the 20-year war that killed significantly more) 222 after being called a paki Mishal Mazin (b. 1994) E 223 Rajagiriya 224 Té Kadé Ciara Mandulee Mendis (b. 1991) E 226 The Dancing Woman at Embekke 227 SWOT Analysis on Marriage Tyrrell Mendis (1934–2021) E 228 Pivot 228 Spring Morning Carl Muller (1935–2019) E 229 Deiyyo Saakki! 233 Que sera, sera R. Murugaiyan (1935–2009) T 234 Variations 236 Toil 236 Aboard a Van Neelaavanan (1931–75) T 238 Sleep 239 Murungaikaai 240 Faster, Faster Nilanthan (b. 1970) T 241 End of an Age 2 241 Kanji Song 1 242 The Mother of Two Martyrs 243 Pina Koorai S. Niroshini (b. 1984) E 244 Neruda’s Last Word(s) 245 Period Party / 246 Girl, Ceylon M.A. Nuhman (b. 1944) T 249 from Saluting Heroic Vietnam from the Corners of Our Little Village 250 Last Evening, This Morning 252 Buddha Murdered Michael Ondaatje (b. 1943) E 253 Letters & Other Worlds 255 The Cinnamon Peeler 257 House on a Red Cliff S. Pathmanathan (b. 1939) T 258 See Through 259 A Thorn in My Flesh Vihanga Perera (b. 1984) E 260 The Playwright 261 The Memory of Fragrance Kasro Ponnuthurai (b. 1995) T 262 Amir’s Lover S. Porawagamage (b. 1993) E 265 My Kinda Name 266 The Wings 266 The First Name Pramil (1939–97) T 268 The Desert 268 (your) Name 269 The Great Wind Tamer Shirani Rajapakse (b. 1967) E 269 Unwanted 270 Chant of a Million Women S. Rajasingham (b. 1927) T 272 Lizards T. Ramalingam (1933–2008) T 273 The Future Anne Ranasinghe (1925–2016) E 275 Judgement 276 At What Dark Point 278 July 1983 Ariyawansa Ranaweera (b. 1942) S 279 Today’s Lion 280 The Giraffe 281 Paintings at Gothami Vihara 282 The Intersection Eva Ranaweera (1924–2010) E 283 In the Street of the Pearl Tree Chalani Ranwala (b. 1991) E 284 The in-betweeners A.M. Rashmy (b. 1974) T 285 from Songs in a Time of Confinement Sahanika Ratnayake (b. 1989) E 287 from Murmur 288 from Case Study #1: Vocabulary Lesson 289 Case Study #3: Chariot Vidyan Ravinthiran (b. 1984) E 290 Uncanny Valley 291 Ceylon 291 The Annupoorunyamal Monica Ruwanpathirana (1947–2004) S 293 My Grief 293 Wife Lamenting 294 from Your Friend She Is Woman Pubudu Sachithanandan (b. 1980) E 295 Anthem: The war is over Minoli Salgado (b. 1960s) E 297 Blood Witness 298 Telegraph A. Sankari (b. 1948) T 299 Living and Dying 300 In Their Eyes Dipti Saravanamuttu (b. 1960) E 301 Among the Icons 302 Landscape Art 304 Line Drawing 305 Flying North in Winter Peter Scharen (———) E 306 Landscape 306 Winter Lines 307 Transitory Mahagama Sekera (1929–76) S 308 The Moon and New York City. 309 No. 16 309 No. 24 310 See Yourself in My Poetry Selvi (1960–91) T 311 Summertime 312 Raman, like Raavanan 312 Within Me G.B. Senanayake (1913–85) S 314 Philosophers and Pundits Dishani Senaratne (b. 1986) E 316 Dreams 316 Lament Gamini Seneviratne (———) E 317 Tune for Ariel 319 Nangi 319 Arjuna Malinda Seneviratne (b. 1965) E 320 Nangi 321 Oil-bullets 321 Mitsi Seni Seneviratne (b. 1951) E 322 Dear Mum 323 Opus Tesselatum 324 Slave Lodge, Cape Town Natchathiran Sevvinthiyan (b. 1974) T 326 Until My Wineglass Was Empty 326 Kokkatticholai 166 Sharmila Seyyid (b. 1982) T 327 Three Dreams 328 Keys to an Empty Home 329 Fire Alfreda de Silva (1930–2001) E 330 Grassfields in Sunlight 331 Cormorants and Children 331 The End of Something 332 Kotmale Lakshmi de Silva (b. 1936) E 333 Tangalla, 9th April 1971 334 Addition and Subtraction S.J. Sindu (b. 1987) E 335 Gods in the Surf 335 For Sale: 1997 Christmas Barbie, $600 Regi Siriwardena (1922–2004) E 337 Birthday Apology and Apologia 340 Colonial Cameo 340 To the Muse of Insomnia Shirani Situnayake (b. 1957) E 341 Beginnings Shanmugam Sivalingam (1936–2012) T 342 Nowadays 342 Unsung Songs 343 In Memory of Our Songs Sumathy Sivamohan (b. 1959) E 345 on reading the astonishing novel ‘mm’ by shoba shakthi S. Sivaramani (1968–91) T 347 Oppressed by Nights of War 348 [Untitled] S. Sivasegaram (b. 1942) T 350 from Faces of War Solaikili (b. 1957) T 353 The Story of a Golden River 354 A Refugee Poet Talking to the Moon Isuru Chamara Somaweera (b. 1981) S 355 The Little Fellow 356 My Pillow Is Wet 357 Mother’s Actress Friend 357 The Meaning of Life. Sandaresee Sudusinghe (b. 1984) S 358 from Gini Wadunu Piyapath Pireeni Sundaralingam (b. 1977) E 360 Lot’s Wives 361 Fugue 362 Times Two Yasmin V. Tambiah (b. 1961) E 364 The Civil War 365 Sandalwood M.J.T. Tambimuttu (1915–83) E 366 My Country, My Village Theepachelvan (b. 1983) T 369 The Lost Kitten 370 A Friend Stands Behind Me 371 An Unpublished Poem Ajith Thilakasena (b. 1933) S 371 Where 372 I do not know if… Thiru Thirukkumaran (b. 1978) T 373 Resurrection 374 This Is How the Buddha Disappeared 375 A Detached Feather Thirumavalavan (1955–2015) T 376 Mullaitivu 376 Living Shash Trevett (b. 1974) E 377 Uduvil, Nightfall 378 The Sinhala Only Act, 1956 379 My Grandfather’s House Urvasi (b. 1956) T 380 Do You Understand? 381 Why Must We Wait? Vivimarie Vanderpoorten (———) E 382 Cadaver 383 Traditional 384 Diplomatic S. Vilvaratnam (1950–2006) E 385 There Was a Time 386 The Echo of Moonlight S. Vinothini (b. 1969) T 388 The Mask Maker 389 The Night Nandana Weerasinghe (———) S 390 The Moon-shadow 390 Full Moon on a Dewdrop. 391 Kalidasa and the Moon 392 Something Square-shaped Rushika Wick (b. 1973) E 393 Hair 393 Ultramarine Pink PV15 394 Yellow Phone in the Yellow House Illavalai Wijayendran (b. 1961) T 395 To Those Who Bear Sticks 395 The Missing Children 396 The Veenai and the Sword Ratna Sri Wijesinghe (b. 1953) S 397 Two Teardrops 398 from The Motherless Two Lakdasa Wikkramasinha (1941–78) E 400 Don’t Talk to Me about Matisse 400 The Flames, 1972 401 Luis de Camoes 402 Middle Richard de Zoysa (1958–90) E 402 Animal Crackers 404 Corporation Love Song (1) 405 [as Angela de Silva] Gajagavannama 406 The Poet 409 Translators 415 Acknowledgements